DURING the launch of TV3's Dejavu Di Kinabalu last Thursday, I was chatting with Tiz Zaqyah when eager paparazzi from a television station politely interrupted and asked  if they could interview her first.  I agreed, but stayed to listen.

The TV station wanted her comments on a recent tweet by actor Remy Ishak, who claimed that he had been treated like "sampah" (garbage) by her. Remy had been hospitalised for high fever and, apparently, he had called her for some comforting words. For the uninitiated, the two are an item.

When queried on this issue, Tiz preferred not to comment.

"I'm a very private person," said Tiz. "If you want to know what happened, just read the blogs, Twitter or whatever you want, but I'm not telling."

Unfazed by the persistent questioning, Tiz stood her ground and said nothing. The TV crew could not get much out of her. I can't help but admire her stand.

Having been in the business for almost six years now, Tiz knows how to handle the press well. She did not shoo them off and she took all the questions. While she had no control of what the media eventually wrote or said about her, she knew exactly what to say, or rather, not say.

"So, is what Remy claimed true?" asked the TV crew.

"Have you had your lunch?" was Tiz's reply. It ended with both parties having a good laugh.

When asked if she would share her problems or feelings with anyone, Tiz said that she had always been secretive about her life.

"I'm just that way. I don't like to say things for the sake of publicity and I only act on the set.

"I don't even share things with my family or friends, let alone strangers. I have been this way since young," said Tiz, adding that like a typical Scorpio, she can be both sensitive and hot-tempered.

However, that Tiz named Remy as one of her favourite actors in the trivia below says something about how she feels about him.

Tiz who has just completed a 28-episode telemovie, will feature alongside Aqasha in her new work. They both play the lead roles in this Global Station-produced drama about a girl called Nadira who receives a heart transplant.

The story is a simple one. It's about Nadira, who, while running towards her friend at the airport, slips and falls. A gentleman, Ammar, helps her to her feet. Coincidentally, they are both on the same flight and bump into each other again on Mount Kinabalu -- where Ammar had spent a lot of time with his late fiancee, Inara, who died in an accident.

During the shoot, which was mainly done in Kota Kinabalu and Janda Baik, among others, Tiz and a few others successfully scaled the highest peak in Malaysia.

"It was tough. To scale such a height, one needs to be physically, mentally and psychologically prepared. None of us were prepared. I'm asthmatic, too.

"Many times during the climb, I felt like giving up. But I plodded on. Then suddenly, the peak was too near for me not to get to it. Once we were up there, we told ourselves that this would be our first and last climb. But once we were back at the foot of the mountain and looking up, we told ourselves we would definitely come back here again," said Tiz, who looked gorgeous in her simple blouse and pants.

Erma Fatima, who was also there, echoed her sentiment.

"To be honest, cast members were not fit to scale Mount Kinabalu."

If, in her first telemovie, Tiz played an abused woman, this time around she plays a love interest. Could this be her dream role?

"If given a chance, I would like to play a character that deals with my innermost emotions. Have you seen Changeling? Well, something like that. Maybe that is the only way for me to vent my frustrations, through acting," said Tiz, whose film Cinta Kura-Kura was recently screened in cineplexes nationwide.

But at the heart of it all, Tiz is just like many other women.

"Yes, I would like to have three children. No, it does not matter what gender they are," she said when asked how many children she would like to have if she got married.

"And yes, I will continue acting!"

Tiz trivia
•  Favourite local actor?
 Aqasha, Remy Ishak, Namron and  Bront Palare

•  Favourite local actress?
 Erma Fatima

• Favourite local movie?
Khabir Bhatia’s Cinta
 
• Favourite international actor?
Robert Downey Jr and Leonardo Dicaprio

•  Favourite international actress?
Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron

• Favourite international movie?
Blood Diamond, Shutter Island, Changeling and A Mighty Heart

• Favourite local singer?
 Jaclyn Victor and Azlan Typewriter

• Favourite foreign singer?
Christina Aguilera, Agnes Monica and Mariah Carey

• Favourite song Of all Time?
 Shania Twain’s You’re Still The One