SHE is often cast as a spoilt rich girl in dramas, as well as the occasional "boyfriend-stealer".
Lanky starlet Sophia Albarakbah is now getting out of her comfort zone to play a 20-something with an attitude in her second film, a romantic comedy or rom-com directed by Dr Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri titled 'Reeza'.
BABY STEPS
Sophia, 31, hopes that fans will accept her gradual migration to more diverse movie roles, as she believes in "taking baby steps" to stardom.
"It's always good to have a slow and steady approach in your career," said Sophia during the filming of 'Reeza' at the Seri Kembangan Rest Area of Maju Expressway in Seri Kembangan, Selangor, recently.
THREE TROPHIES
Having recently won Ratu Telenovela and popular actress at Anugerah Telenovela 9, Sophia says she is lucky to have collected her trophies "pretty fast".
"I've won three trophies within a year, the first being popular film actress in Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian 35 last year. I feel like the luckiest girl in town!"
She sees her "easy wins" as good incentives to take on more challenging roles, such as the female protagonist Myra in 'Reeza'.
"Myra is a character who is rather different from me. She is pretty good in silat, as her father is a master of the martial art," said Sophia.
HONEST AND PRINCIPLED
Sophia admires Myra for being honest and principled.
"She is a girl on a mission, looking for something that's important to her family. As a result, she gets pursued by thuggish men who have an axe to grind against her father," she said, adding that Myra soon finds an unlikely ally in the male protagonist named Reeza.
INSIDE A BOX
"Reeza comes from a different background as Myra. He is an orphan who works in his foster father's car business, and one day, he stumbles across her while she was hiding inside a box.
"Myra tells Reeza about her background, and the young man sympathises with her plight, vowing to help her," said Sophia, adding that their bond begins to grow throughout the movie as they slowly fall in love.
SAFE STUNTS
Sophia said that she enjoyed doing her own stunts in several scenes of the movie.
"I got a bad bruise on my right arm. Thank God I did not have to go to hospital," she said, adding that director Idham only allowed the main actors and actresses to perform "safe" stunts and leave the dangerous ones to stuntmen.
HORROR COMEDY
Sophia says she enjoys working with Idham as he is a "patient and helpful" mentor.
"Throughout filming, he was very encouraging, and kept telling me that I could do it.
"I first worked with him in 'Saka Perawan', which was filmed late last year, and I enjoyed myself on the set of that horror comedy."
COOL GENTLEMAN
As for her co-star Alif Satar, who plays Reeza, Sophia describes him as a "cool gentleman".
"Alif is a joy to hang out with. He is very knowledgeable and super-talented," she said, adding that he and Akim Ahmad were among her favourite singer-actors.
FULL OF IDEAS
Alif said that Reeza was his second collaboration with Idham after 'Anak Perjanjian Syaitan 2', and it was great to work with the popular director.
"Idham is full of ideas, open-minded and always clear and precise with his commands. Both of us are like minds who think out of the box," he said.
BOY SCOUT
Alif also said that his character Reeza is a former boy scout who was orphaned and helps out his foster father in the latter's car repair and sales business.
"He is honest-to-goodness, not very ambitious and lives one day at a time.
"But all that changes after he rescues Myra and helps her on her mission.
"It is here that they learn from each other and he finds purpose in life," said Alif.
PHYSICAL AND ATHLETIC
Alif described his co-star Sophia as "surprisingly physical and athletic".
"She is amazing, in many instances she did her own stunts and proved capable of getting her scenes wrapped up in a single take," he said.
SELF-DISCOVERY
Idham said 'Reeza' will premiere in the final quarter of the year.
"It is an action-oriented romantic comedy about self-discovery, the generation gap, family values and integrity," he said.
Idham praised Sophia for her work ethics and described her as an actress who will "go far" in her career.
YEAR-END PREMIERE
Idham said that the movie's filming took place around the Klang Valley from Feb 7 to 29.
Besides Sophia and Alif, 'Reeza' also stars Datuk Eizlan Yusof, Cat Farish, Noki, Ropie, Man, Asrul and Yassin Yahya.