Meet Sean Yap

No, this is not the sequel to 'Meet Joe Black' or a Malaysian version of it. This is an introduction to someone I truly respect and admire, someone who overcame hurdles and rocky roads to chase after a dream that many have said to be impossible and nonprofitable.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="192" caption="Sean Yap"][/caption]

Confident, forever optimistic and incredibly daring, Sean Yap realized, one day, that life was too short to waste and decided to pursue his dream of becoming an actor.....and has never looked back since. Dragging himself out from the rat race a few years ago, he took some time out for his dream and took acting classes. There he learned the basic skills that every budding actor needs in order to penetrate the tough, and often fickle, industry.

Now, we have heard and seen many people who often say that they want to pursue a certain dream but in the end, they often do not, mainly because of discouragement from others and because of lack of motivation and inspiration. Many also like to claim that they are too old to achieve their dream, but Sean does not let age, inexperience nor discouraging words deter him from his acting. If achieving your dream was easy, then it wouldn't be so special, would it?

It wasn't that simple to enter the acting world but making friends during his classes helped him to meet other people in the industry, and soon he landed a role in the first short film I have seen him in; Unsecured Loan.

Sean Yap played the lead character, Brian, who borrowed money from the triads. Because of his close relationship with the head of the triads, Brian thought he would be given special treatment.....he was wrong.

It was a flurry of activity after his acting debut and Sean continued going to one audition after another, getting offer after offer, and continuously traveled to Singapore where most of the shoots and auditions were held. Below are some of the films he has acted in; playing an undercover policeman in The Investigators, a mortician in Meet Charles Young, a man with amnesia in Crash, and a serial killer in Emperor, the prequel to Unsecured Loan.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="242" caption="The Investigators"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="198" caption="Meet Charles Young"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="209" caption="Crash"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="206" caption="Emperor"][/caption]

Also, watch out for his performances as a widower in Mary-Jane, a psychic in Anything Whatever TVC - 'Ah Gong & Prof DD', an antagonist in Mnemonic, John Doe in Battery, and a commanding officer in the virtual world film Imaginator. All the films in bold red are still in post-production.

Aside from short films, he also dabbled in stage plays such as a singing extra in Tunku the Musical and as a sexually abused brother in The Two Brothers. Not all his roles were lead or big enough to take note of. Sometimes one has to be humble and take less than desirable roles in order to gain more experience and knowledge (hence the saying, 'There are no small roles, only small actors'). Sean had a small gig as an illegal car park attendant in the television program, 3R, and as a 'colleague' and 'doorman' in the corporate video, Singapore Foreign Affairs. He also managed to land some TV roles, playing the bartender Bobby in episode 7 of NTV7's Frontpage, a lawyer in episode 8, 9 and 10 in AstroRia's Lima as well as an abusive father in Singapore Success Stories: Mary Chai.

It just goes to show that anyone, regardless of age and ability, can achieve their dream. They only have to take that first step to start the journey and then keep on going and gain the momentum needed until finally reaching the pinnacle. The dream can still continue on even after that, but only if you want to.

For Sean, although there were times when he lost his inspiration, he still pushed himself to go on because he knows he can do it, because there are still lots of opportunities. He is still going strong. :)