January 20, 2024, 11:54 AM
Known by her nickname '高妹' (roughly translated to "tall girl" in English), Ye Jia Yun is a 21-year-old Mediacorp actress who recently made her runway debut at Milan Fashion Week.
Ye's public presence was first established when she came second runner-up in Star Search 2019.
Standing at 1.78m tall, she stood out from the other contestants because of her height. She later made her Mediacorp debut in drama 'All Around You', which was telecast in March 2020.
Actress turned model
With her height, it was only a matter of time before Ye embarked on her modelling career.
Across May to July 2023, Ye trained and built her modelling portfolio in Taiwan, where she managed to get an opportunity to be on Marie Claire's fashion spread.
She deemed this feature to be pivotal in ensuring her subsequent runway debut at the prestigious Milan Fashion Week 2023.
Winding up in Italy's fashion capital
Ye touched down in Milan in September 2023, right in the middle of Fashion Week casting period.
In an interview with Mothership, she recalls having to go for about six castings with different brands every day.
Regardless of how many months she'd spent training prior to the castings, each casting would last for only about two minutes. She mused:
"If they like you, they like you. If they don't, they're just like, 'Okay, thank you' - you know?"
Fortunately, during Ye's casting for Milan Fashion Week, shots were taken of her and she was fitted into their clothes. Though she took this as a sign that she had a chance of walking for their show, she "didn't want to jinx [herself]" by celebrating before receiving her confirmation.
"I don't want to jinx myself so I prefer to, after I do that thing, then I tell [people], you know, that I did it."
The first people she told upon receiving the good news two days before the show were her agency and her family.
Beyond the limelight
However, success doesn't always come as smoothly.
Ye deems the time she spent in Milan as a "difficult period for [her]". As Ye recalls, she and her roommates would constantly question themselves for not having castings.
“Like why [weren’t] we asked to go for this casting, or [this] certain brand’s casting? [...] Is it because I’m not good enough? Is it something I don’t have that other people have? Is that why they’re not calling me there?”
Thankfully, she quickly realised that the one thing she has to do for herself, amidst these negative thoughts, is to "stay motivated and be more positive about things".
“Always look at things with an open mind. Just treat every casting as a new casting, don't be so beaten up over the previous casting, and just refresh your mind, go in there and work for it."
When asked about her takeaways from her time in Taiwan and Milan, Ye also shared that one thing she learned about herself was that she enjoyed walking around and exploring different places to destress.
“I think that helps me to reset my mind and also helps me to feel better because you know, I'm exploring a new place. And you know, it's very exciting and it just helps me feel calm and also recollect my thoughts and feel refreshed.”
Plans for the future
Ye hopes to do a good mix of both acting and modelling locally before venturing overseas again. Though her career in modelling has only just begun, the 21-year-old seems to still be an actress at heart. She enthused:
“[My] favourite part of being an actress, I think, would be that you’re able to try out different characters that you have never imagined that you [would] be trying out for. I think that's the fun part about it.”
While Ye acknowledges that she still has much to learn in terms of acting, she also attributes part of her difficulties in getting cast to the lack of male co-actors tall enough to match her height in Singapore.
"I don't quite recall someone [who] is significantly taller than me other than those inside Star Search. [...] In acting, you know, sometimes I might have to wear heels, so maybe that's not too good as well."
When asked who she would act with if she were given the opportunity to do so with anyone in the world, Ye jokingly answered, "Maybe Cha Eunwoo or Park Seojoon."
Top photos from Ye Jiayun's Instagram page.
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