Cover Story: Amelia Henderson on attending Cannes, social media and time
Actress, model, host, producer and dancer Amelia Henderson is staying true to herself while she’s on her way to the top.
Thanks for rushing back for our cover shoot! How was Cannes Film Festival?
Thank you, I’m so excited to be here. [Cannes Film Festival] was a super fun experience — it was one of the greatest opportunities in my life. Growing up in the industry, this is one of the pinnacles in one’s career, so this means a lot to me. Every time I go overseas or attend something like this, I feel obligated to represent my country. As I was dressed in looks by local designers the entire week, everyone was like “Wow, you look so nice!” and I was like “Yeah, this is a local designer from Malaysia.” I felt very proud to be there.
You’re an actress, model, host, producer and dancer. Is there anything you can’t do?
A lot, actually. Have you seen me cook? I’m not very good at it [laughs]. There are plenty of things that I cannot do. I wouldn’t say I’m so remarkable, it’s just that I started in the industry very young, and I’ve been training and practising for entertainment my whole life. So, I can do a lot of entertainment-related things — this is my entire life’s work, if I can’t do that, what can I do?
What are the ups and downs of growing up in the spotlight?
It’s important for me to constantly remember that I’m very fortunate. There have been so many points in my life where I feel like maybe I’ve taken the industry or some of the opportunities that I have for granted because I thought that it is tough sometimes when your life is exposed to everybody. It’s also hard when you feel like there’s a lot of pressure, whether it is from your surroundings or it is something inside you in response to your surroundings.
However, it is also important to remember how privileged I am on such a huge level that my career found me and I didn’t have to go through all of these. I did go to auditions and I got rejected so many times, but I went through that process so young that I have everything put together at a relatively young age — that’s definitely one of the amazing opportunities. There aren’t many downsides — sometimes I feel like I have to constantly deliver for other people, but as an entertainer, that’s what I do and it’s something I love. So, I don’t have many complaints.
Social media is, obviously, one of your strong suits. How do you draw the line between personal and work life?
That’s an interesting question. What I would want people to know is that having a high follower count on social media doesn’t increase your value as a person and vice versa. In a world where social media is so prevalent, a lot of the times, especially among the younger crowd, it is very easy for them to get carried away with the concept of “look at how famous I am online” and feel like that somehow excuses them from their journey to improve themselves as a person. Instead, they focus on their journey of collecting more numbers.
[Social media] is a tool that I use for my business — an incredibly powerful one that I think everyone should take advantage of but having said that, it does not define you at all. If I do shitty things, I’m still a shitty person. It doesn’t matter how many followers I have. So my main focus is just to try to be a good person by analogue standards, not by digital ones.
Being a public figure, any romantic relationship will automatically attract interest. What are your thoughts on dating in the public eye?
A lot of the time, I feel like it’s made out to be a bigger problem than it is. I have so much control over what I publish and what I don’t publish. I’ve dated many times in the past and nobody’s known about it because that was my choice, but if I choose to share it, then that’s also my choice. I know what I’m signing up for. In a sense, I know I’m opening it to people’s comments, but there have been very few moments in my life where I feel like privacy has been removed from me, especially in Malaysia, where we don’t have paparazzi culture.
You’re never afraid of clap backs or speaking up. Why do you think it’s important for you to respond?
You know what? This is a recent thing for me. When I was much younger and when I first started in the industry as an adult, I was so scared of saying something scandalous or controversial because I know how hard it was for me to get my career back. I didn’t have a backup option when I chose entertainment as I didn’t go for a degree and I didn’t complete my education. However, that doesn’t mean I’m not educated — I’m constantly educating myself.
Recently, a lot of things have happened in my career that you could call “scandalous”. At that point, it became very obvious to me that trying to be what everybody wanted me to be — this unproblematic, pretty girl who is sweet and doesn’t do anything wrong — is going to still upset somebody. At this stage of my life, maybe because I’m more mature now, I’m more confident in standing up for what I believe in. Even if nobody is standing with me, that’s okay; even if I make the news 15 times for the wrong reasons, at least I did something for myself. I didn’t put other people’s wants of me before mine as I did in the past, which people kind of tend to do when working in the service or entertainment industry. Now, I’m signing up for things that I believe in.
What advice would you give to new artists in the industry?
Make sure you’re doing it because you love it, and not only because it’s glamorous and fun. Today’s shoot is one of the most glamorous things that I could be doing in my career. However, it’s only a fraction of the actual job, and so much of it is the mental game of how many times are you willing to hear no. How much do you want it? Can you go through all of those “nos” to be able to hear one “yes” as sometimes those opportunities take forever? I’ve been rejected so many times in my life, I’m privileged because I went through all that when I was very young and I got over it.
You’re no stranger to criticisms and haters. How do you deal with that?
In the past, whenever anyone asks me this question, I would say “No, I don’t read it.” Lying, she was lying [laughs]. I read everything. Sometimes, there are some constructive messages where I know that they’re coming from a good place; there are some that are not coming from a good place too, but it’s up to you as an individual to manage your mental state and not let these things affect you too much.
I read everything now, and I’m okay to admit it and to say that it affects me, but this is my level of development in the sense that I have to be at a place in my life where no matter what anybody says to me, I am confident enough with who I am that it doesn’t affect me on the level that it maybe would have when I was younger. That’s my personal journey and I feel so proud of myself — you could say anything to me and even if it affects me, I would get over it much faster than I was able to in the past. Being able to face criticism and still know who you are is a really powerful thing.
What’s your ultimate career goal with your media production company ATHQ Media?
I have yet to discuss this with my team, but after being in Cannes, I’m inspired to produce something that I would maybe submit for some sort of film festival. I think it’s time for independent filmmakers to realise that there is an infrastructure, and there are people who are going to support our local industry and push for more international representation.
If you could have any guest on your podcast Studio Sembang, who will it be?
I would love to sit down with Oprah — she’s truly the greatest of all time in terms of how she interviews people and she’s one of my biggest inspirations. Karisma Kapoor would be fantastic too.
What does time mean to you?
Time is everything. It’s something that you can’t get back, but also, the ability to live in the moment is a very important thing.
When do you feel most free?
It took a long time but I’m at a place now where no matter what I do, I still feel free because I make sure everything I choose to do is something that I want to do. Also, when I’m with my family — because I can truly be myself.
What would you like to explore next?
Although it has been going on for a while, my production company was mainly to produce my own social media content in the past. Now, we’ve done a lot of back-end expansion. We are starting to take on bigger tenders and projects and hopefully develop into a more fully fleshedout production company where we start producing more journal content like how we did Studio Sembang. We also do talent management but that’s mainly for talents in front of the camera. So, we have a new talent division and we’re managing a couple of people.
Besides that, we’re signing on to be one of the official media partners of Good Vibes Festival — we’re going to do a lot of publication for them as well as interviews with some of the artists that they are bringing in, which is very exciting. That’s probably my next focus for the upcoming month.
Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years?
Hopefully happy.
Our June/July 2023 "Adventure" issue featuring Amelia Henderson will be available in selected major bookstores and newsstands in Malaysia and online on www.magzter.com.
Cover Credits:
Photography Chee Wei Lock
Creative Direction & Styling Joan Kong
Makeup Sharman Yee, PLIKA MAKEUP
Hair Ckay Liow
Nails Rachel Yap, POSH
Styling Assistant Amelia Tan
