How did you get your start in the Lao entertainment business?
Alee: My friends and I, who are all dancers, created a girl group called Shawty about two years ago. We really loved dancing and wanted to become singers. We decided to create our own music to try and get signed to a record label. I am one of the lead singers of the group.
Gig: I won a beauty pageant at my university, RBAC, in 2007 before participating in the Miss Laos pageant, in 2009, which I won. I’ve worked in the entertainment industry ever since.

What’s the entertainment industry like over there?
Gig: Honestly it’s pretty small. Most of our work is as MCs or singers, there aren’t many jobs for actors and actresses. We do have some sit-coms now but there are only a few. We have so many restrictions. Like at the beauty pageants, we can only wear sinh (traditional sarongs), swimsuits are totally prohibited here. Our freedom of speech is so limited.
Alee: We can’t speak freely on any issue. You can’t talk about politics or swear and you have to dress in a certain way. So it’s pretty hard to do interesting movies or TV programs. We only have 4-5 TV channels which air mostly traditional cultural programs or travel programs. So our people prefer to watch Thai TV instead.

So how did this movie come about?
Gig: I normally work as a host for TV programs in Laos so I got to know Jia Pacific (Poomchana Siriwongsa), the famous comedian, who was really behind producing the film. We haven’t had a Lao movie to show in cinemas for decades. He asked me to cast for the role and I said yes. He later asked Alee to cast and she got the role, too. Now he’s doing a second movie.

What does “Huk Aum Lum” mean?
Alee: Mellow Love.

Have you ever worked in Thailand?
Alee: Nearly. My band was hired to play in Udon Thani last year but one of the group got sick so we had to cancel the show.
Gig: My parents do a lot of business in Thailand so I have to travel there a lot.

How do you feel about the way that Thais use the word “Lao” as an insult?
Alee: It’s pretty mean. But I do try to understand that some Thais really don’t mean to insult us. They’re just accustomed to using it. But really, I want Thais to stop doing it. It’s our nationality. It’s not a insult.
Gig: I understand the situation. But I always question why. What’s wrong with being born Laotian? I have patriotic feelings. I want to protect my country. So I would invite Thais to come to our country and get to know us better.