I’m totally Thai even though I’m half-French. I was born in France but moved here when I was three years old after my parents got divorced.

You must fight to survive. I was so lonely and got bullied at school when I was sent to study in the UK at the age of 12. They insulted Thailand as a third-world country and mocked me by saying I had to travel around on a buffalo. Finally I punched a few of them and no one dared bother me again after that.

Humanity has always intrigued me, and studying psychology at university gave me lots of answers. I want to know the human mind.

I’ve dreamed of being an actor since I was 17, but my dad forbid it at the time. He was afraid that I wasn’t strong enough to resist all the temptations. I decided to put that dream on hold and explore life by opening an event marketing company, and working as a waiter in a hotel in Europe and a butcher in France.

Nothing is crystal-clear in the entertainment industry. When I had a chance to work in it 10 years later, everything was exactly as my father had feared. It’s the same even now. I just ignore that bullshit and concentrate on what I love to do most, acting.

Acting is one of the most fascinating arts. It transforms letters on paper into a real act. It’s fucking awesome. It’s like awakening something deep inside you and unleashing it.

When you are at your lowest point, you feel you have no right to make people listen to you. I was in that place in 2006 when I had no job and had just been dumped by my girlfriend of five years.

Don’t give a shit about people who don’t see your value. After getting drunk for weeks and even contemplating suicide, I woke up one morning and suddenly realized there was no point getting hung up on people who made me feel worthless.

I started doing new things as a way of reviving myself. I packed my bags to go study acting in New York where I did odd jobs working as a waiter, translator and actor. It led me to meeting Romchat Thanalarppipat, an acting coach, and Nattawut Poonpiriya, the director who made the short film Long Lai (the original version of Count Down). They enticed me back to Thailand again for the big screen adaptation.

There is no success without misery. Bas, Rom and I kept pinning our future dreams and hopes onto our little projects. It’s a road where you never know when it’s going to end. When I won the best actor award at the Thailand National Film Association Awards (Supannahong), it was fucking brilliant. Jerking off a million times couldn’t compare!

Everything happens for a reason. When bad things happen in your life, it’s teaching you something. It just depends on whether you are conscientious enough to learn from it or not.

Acting for stage plays is like stripping. It’s just us actors sending all our energy to the live audience. If you forget a line, you must think quick to save the situation. It’s hard but a lot of fun, too.

The magic of film is being devalued because of celebrities’ over-exposure. In the past, we called actors “stars” because they couldn’t be reached. Now, you can see them everywhere and there are too many of them.

Thailand is the holy land. It has everything from wonderful nature to unique culture. We could be the greatest country in the region, but corruption holds us back. We’ve been overtaken by Malaysia and soon Myanmar will follow suit.

It’s sad to see Thais still worshipping dead animals or scratching trees to find numbers to buy lottery tickets (legal and otherwise). This sort of thing belongs in the distant past!

The Thai lottery is definitely fixed. It should be impossible to have the same number twice. The chances are one in a billion! These things don’t happen randomly, that’s for sure.

Hardship forces Thais to cling to their lives through gambling. Our system doesn’t help people to stand on their own two feet adequately. Gambling is such a big part of modern Thai culture that it’s going to be hard to change.

I’m OK with bribing cops on the street. I used to feel disgusted by it. Now I simply understand the whole cycle. It’s their way of surviving.

Feed people properly before teaching them about ethics. We fail to rid ourselves of corruption because our people are still poor and hungry—including police officers. It’s impossible for policemen who earn less than B10,000 a month to take care of their wife, kids, cars and groceries. They need that extra money.

Home is where the heart is and Ratchaburi is where mine is right now. I live with my girlfriend in Ratchaburi. Life in the countryside is awesome. Fewer cars, fewer people, lots of nature and great food!

Love is essential for life. It gives you hope, sorrow and happiness. I was hurt by love and became really self-protective, always ready to raise my fists and fight. But new love has brought back my softer side.

Living without goals is so boring. Give yourself some purpose and add real meaning to your life.