Open your heart to artist and actor with a cool attitude, Hugo Chakrabongse, who has been in the industry for more than 20 years, on the program WOODY FM, revealing his perspective on the entertainment industry, being an artist who once felt burned out, and about relationships as a person who is rather closed off. Telling the truth behind success in the industry, talented people don’t go anywhere because they don’t have connections. Revealing the most hated words? Along with talking about the movie The Stone, True Monk, Fake Person, in which he co-starred.
I’ve had the opportunity to see Hugo’s life for more than 20 years, from being a person in the industry, an artist, a father, and now an actor. What do you think is the beauty in his life today?
Hugo: It’s all a result of relationships. My life isn’t a result of any principles or even ideologies. Most of it is about relationships. It’s like this movie, Pae Arak and I have been together for 10 years until we had a good relationship. It’s enough to demand something. I invited him to be a guest at the concert. He asked me to produce his album. It’s normal for friends. I don’t have friends who I don’t work with. I don’t have any social circles outside of my family and work because I work. My band is my social circle. Or being on set is like being with people I know. My life is based on relationships.
So are you a fairly open person?
Hugo: No, because if I open up, the burden will follow. Because if you become close to me, you can demand a lot of rights from me. So I don’t really let people in because I’ll be busy.
We see that each person who grows with time has the opportunity to do what they want to do?
Hugo: It has to be like that because, in reality, if we’re talking about the entertainment industry, it’s not a forced flight. No one forces you to dance and eat. If you’re going to do it, you should do what’s good for you. We ourselves are starting to feel that we have responsibilities. For example, our audience is mainly our fans. We feel that we have a responsibility to each other. It’s another kind of relationship, which sometimes seems close. For me, it’s as close as being with relatives. But it’s another kind of relationship that seems to go in the same direction. We will send songs to them.
And they will sometimes give me encouragement, cheer me on, or give me a job. And I see everything as a relationship, not as science or principles. Sometimes when people come to me for advice, it’s hard to give advice because chance and luck, the chance to meet people are more important than talent or skill. I know many people who are better than me who didn’t make it anywhere because they didn’t have relationships. Or I know people who are truly untalented, shouldn’t have made it anywhere. They made it to the top of the tower because of relationships. Or you could say that sometimes if you look at it negatively, they are the ones who have connections. But in reality, it’s about managing relationships. It’s even more important if you’re not a newbie or popular. Because I’m over 40 now.
But if it’s like an okay history, no enemies, and is easy to work with, comes on time, relationships are easy to manage. I’m an easy person to manage, just be polite to me a little bit. I’m not a complicated person as people think. But if you come in the wrong way, it’s hard to talk to me. If the relationship is close like Pae suggested this, I didn’t even read the script, so I accepted it because I knew what he was doing. When I read the script, it was challenging, fun. And being on set was so much fun, there were talented people around. It was simple because I usually didn’t go anywhere on set, it was like going to a social club.
Other than family and music, what makes you happy? Is there anything you’re really interested in at 40?
Hugo: When I work, I try to compliment things too. I don’t just wait to do an interview. I go out on the balcony. I take pictures of trains. I go to see if they’ve ever been to this building. Let’s see what there is. No matter where I go, I have to go somewhere. I try to enjoy it. I go to the provinces, go to eat, see what the province has to offer, what ancient sites there are to see. My friend in the band Silly Fools told me how to make work like a vacation. That helps a lot. Photography, cameras. I bring 2-3 cameras, a lens for bird watching. The rest is just a routine of taking family members to different places. It’s a lot of fun.
Where in Thailand do you feel like you really like the energy here?
Hugo: In terms of playing music right now, the audience that I’m most fascinated with is Maha Sarakham Province. Every time I go there, I feel that it’s the right balance between trendiness, enthusiasm, and excitement. They’re people with taste but also have a lot of fun energy. It gives me hope every time I go there because we measure ourselves by our audience. We feel that our audience is like a reflection of where we are. And every time I go to play, I feel that we’re still in the trend, not the mainstream, but in some kind of trend. It makes us feel that there’s a future.
Have you ever heard the term “burned out”?
Hugo: I’ve heard that. It’s possible, but it hasn’t happened to me that much. It might have happened when I was abroad for a while, when I got dropped from the label, and I became a songwriter for someone else, and I went to session after session, and there was no progress for about two years. But other than that, I’m a pretty lucky person, and I don’t really do things that I shouldn’t because I’m worried about my mother. And when I got into the industry over there, I was already married. I created a cage for myself, and then I wouldn’t have to think about it.
What is yours like in the word “must find” and “passion” that we use today?
Hugo: It shouldn’t be searched for, it should come up. I should probably put my passion on the reins rather than looking for it. The passion is already there, but we have to think about other people, not just about your own passion. You’re not alone. You have employees, you have family, you have other responsibilities, your parents, your sisters, and so on. I’ve already got a lot. I’m very lucky to have followed my own path.
The Stone, the real monk, the fake person, will be released on what date?
Hugo: April 3rd, written by Mr. Pae Arak. He has been involved in the amulet industry for almost 4-5 years before writing this script. The content is about the hunt for a Somdej amulet, which is not known whether it is real or not, but the people around it are definitely fake. It is a movie about hunting for objects. In addition to having to prove whether the amulet is real or not, people are the scary ones.
Want to see how much passion he has for this movie?
Hugo: He has a lot of experience. I don’t know how many movies he’s acted in since he came back, but I came back from abroad. When I went to live in New York for a while and came back, he was already famous. I saw that he acted in I don’t know how many movies and dramas in a year. His experience on set was quite reliable. I felt quite comfortable and there was no pressure.
Are we happy for those who did what they did to the fullest?
Hugo: Don’t stop, don’t quit, you have to do it for 10 years and then you’ll know. And if you can’t do it for 10 and still love it, then it means you’ll live another 10 years. Every 10 years, you have to check your symptoms. But it takes a long time, at least 10 years, whether it’s music or anything else, before you’re skilled, before people know you. Sometimes I make an album and it takes 5 years for people to meet me. This is even my fans. When will you make another song? When will you act in a movie? We’ve already acted, things like that. Right now, we’re fighting for everyone’s attention and focus. And there’s so much content.
It took me a long time to show up. It took so long to get here. You have to think about what happened before you saw him. The words I hate the most are… Where have you been? What do you mean? How do you want me to feel? Do you want me to say that I lost my job? No! I was doing this and that. You didn’t look for me. It’s my fault that I disappeared. I didn’t disappear. You didn’t look for me.
