DESPITE having a decade-long acting career, Syafie Naswip still takes time to attend acting workshops by the likes of Fatimah Abu Bakar, Fauziah Nawi and Sabri Yunus.
“Whenever I’m not involved in a production, I attend workshops and private acting classes conducted by illustrious players in the industry,” said the 24-year-old, who made his screen debut under the direction of the late Yasmin Ahmad in 2007.
At 14, Syafie was chosen by Yasmin to star in her coming-of-age movie Mukhsin.
The young actor went on to win the best child actor award at the 20th Malaysian Film Festival that same year for his portrayal of the titular character.
He also won the best supporting actor award for his roles in Talentime and Songlap at the same film festival in 2009 and 2011 respectively.
Although selective over the offers that come his way, the talented actor added that he was not fussy about the types of roles or genres of a production, as long as the film or TV drama would be a fun product for fans to watch.
“My responsibility as an actor is to play a character convincingly and to make it believable. I do my best each time.
“Sometimes, the feedback I receive, such as comments by fans on social media platforms, are a good source of motivation for me as an actor,” he said recently.
When asked if he would like to direct one day, Syafie humbly replied that he still had a long way to go before he could assume that position.
“To be a good director, there are many things one needs to learn and know.
“For instance, how to motivate his actors on set, how to psychologically ‘control’ them to bring out the best in them during shoots,” he said.
Syafie acted in a few Hari Raya specials recently, such as telemovies Ali and Surat Panjang Untuk Mak, which were aired on TV3 and Kembalikan Syawalku, which was screened on Astro Citra and Astro Mustika.
The actor had also finished shooting for two films: Jibam and Nyonya Santorini.