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Shawn Thia (Singaporean Actor)

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Shawn Thia (born 8 December 1995) is a Singaporean actor.[1][2] He is known for his portrayal as Ah Zai on TiTouDao: Inspired by the True Story of a Wayang Star that aired on Mediacorp and Channel 8.[1] He is also known for being in Royston Tan’s interactive short film High, where he plays the lead role Nick.[1][3]

Photo from Her World.

As of March 2022, Thia has 17,200 followers on Instagram and 93,100 followers on TikTok.[4][5]

Background

Early life & family

Thia was born on 8 December 1995.[1] He has one sister, Sherry.[6]

Education

According to Thia, he used to be rebellious during his teenage years, frequently fighting with his discipline masters and teachers.[7] When reflecting upon his younger days, Thia notes that:

“An ‘Angmoh Pai Ah Beng’ is a term I would use to describe the old me (laughs). Besides that, I would consider myself a run-of-the-mill boy - even I try to be as transparent as “normal” as possible, as I want my audience to be able to relate to me on and off-screen. It’s about cultivating authenticity.”[7]

At 15 years old, Thia dropped out of school to work, and experienced minimal family support moving forward.[3][7] He enlisted in the army at 16 years old.[3] Thia mentions that:

“I’m still figuring out who I am as a person. I’ve never taken the conventional path in life.”[3]

Career
Beginning (2016-2019)

Thia started out his career by doing commercials, while also moving into short films and dramas.[3] In 2016, Thia embarked on his first onscreen project.[3] He gave himself a year to try pursuing an acting career, and was doing so part-time while balancing his full-time job in the marine offshore industry.[3]

Thia only began pursuing acting full-time in 2019.3 He then signed on to The Changing Point (TCP) Media Group, an artiste-management unit.[8]

Breakthrough
 
Shawn Thia playing Ah Zai in TiTouDao. Photo from Facebook.

Thia’s breakthrough came in 2020, with his role as Ah Zai on TiTouDao: Inspired by the True Story of a Wayang Star.[1] This show is a Chinese drama about a real-life Wayang star, and the cast included famous local actors such as Fann Wong and Tosh Zhang.[9] According to Thia, the cast stayed in Ipoh, Malaysia for 3 months for filming.[10]

 
Shawn Thia acting as Nick in High. Photo from CNA Lifestyle.

He then joined the cast of Reunion, a mystery-thriller series where he played two characters, Chris and Jon.[11] Another notable role of his is Nick on Royston Tan’s High, an anti-drug interactive film that was done in collaboration with the National Council Against Drug Abuse.[12]

 
Promotion campaign poster of The Algorithm. Photo from TSL Media.

In 2021, Thia joined the cast of The Algorithm, the first drama series done by TheSmartLocal (TSL), commissioned by Mediacorp.[13] He played the male lead Evan Lim in the six-episode series.

Aside from film productions, Thia also works for SGAG as a talent on contract.[14]

Creating content on social media

Apart from acting, Thia also does influencer marketing on both TikTok and Instagram. He has collaborated with clients such as Syfe, as well as Samsung, where he was part of their campaign promoting the Galaxy Z Flip5 5G.[13][15]

Filmography

Year Title Role Ref.
2019 Love Shop Benjamin [16]
2019 Fried Rice Paradise Peter Yu [17]
2019 128 Circle Julian [17]
2020 TiTouDao: Inspired by the True Story of a Wayang Star Ah Zai [1]
2020 Stay Home Neighbour - [18]
2021 Reunion Chris/Jon [8]
2021 The Algorithm Evan [13]
2022 Genie In A Cup - [13]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 “About”. Shawn Thia. Accessed on March 16, 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.shawnthia.com
  2. ↑ Nick Shen Weijun. “Happy Blessed Birthday to Ah Zai Shawn Thia”. Facebook. December 8, 2019. Accessed on 17 March 2022.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Tai, Hayley. “Local Actor Shawn Thia: ‘I’ve Never Taken The Conventional Path In Life’”. Her World. October 8, 2020. Accessed on 16 March 2022.
  4. ↑ shawnthia. “Posts” Instagram. Accessed on 17 March 2022.
  5. ↑ shawnthia. “Videos” TikTok. Accessed on 17 March 2022.
  6. ↑ shawnthia. “Doing an IG Live with my sister” Instagram. June 18, 2020. Accessed on 17 March 2022.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Chin, Amos. “Not Your Typical Ah Beng”. Magzter. n.d. Accessed on 17 March 2022.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 “The Changing Point (TCP) Media Group”. Glints. Accessed on 17 March 2022. Retrieved from: https://glints.com/sg/companies/the-changing-point-tcp-media-group/fd045a9d-3e2e-477b-81b0-e8548c7cc22b
  9. ↑ “TiTouDao: Inspired by the True Story of a Wayang Star (Mandarin Dubbed)”. meWATCH. Accessed on 17 March 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.mewatch.sg/season/Titoudao-Inspired-by-the-True-Story-of-a-Wayang-Star-(Mandarin-Dubbed)-151302
  10. ↑ Tseng, Douglas. “Reunion's Shawn Thia On Christopher Lee As A Role Model: "He Ages Like Fine Wine". 8 Days. September 4, 2021. Accessed on 17 March 2022.
  11. ↑ “Reunion”. meWATCH. Accessed on 17 March 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.mewatch.sg/show/Reunion-206869
  12. ↑ Loh, Genevieve Sarah. “Singapore’s first interactive film is a horror story about drug use”. CNA Lifestyle. March 24, 2020. Accessed on 17 March 2022.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Goh, Nirelle. “‘The Algorithm’ is TheSmartLocal’s First Mediacorp Drama Series” TSL Media. July 26, 2021. Accessed on 17 March 2022.
  14. ↑ “Meet Our Cast” SGAG. Accessed on 17 March 2022. Retrieved from https://www.sgag.sg/cast
  15. ↑ Augustman. “Watch Actor Shawn Thia Take On The Galaxy Flip3 5G Switch Challenge” Augustman. November 24, 2021. Accessed on 17 March 2022.
  16. ↑ “Shawn Thia”. IMDb. Accessed on 17 March 2022. Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11309811/
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 “Shawn Thia”. Filmoria. Accessed on 17 March 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.filmoria.co.uk/movie-list/shawn-thia-castid2523830
  18. ↑ “Shawn Thia 程家颉“ meWATCH. Accessed on 17 March 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.mewatch.sg/cast-crew/Shawn-Thia程家颉
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