Opportunity comes once in a lifetime, so you need to seize it once you have the chance.
But for Malaysian Chinese actress Daniella Sya Yeng Yeng, she has missed out on not one, but four huge opportunities to be in a Hollywood production.
For an actor, getting to be part of some of the biggest Hollywood productions of the century is like a dream come true as it’ll be able to kickstart your career internationally.
But for Daniella, her biggest problem is always timing. She was previously offered to play in big-budget Hollywood productions such as “Iron Man 3”, “Marco Polo”, “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Power Rangers”, but time and luck were never on her side.
“Iron Man 3”
According to Malay Mail, the 30-year-old Kedahan actress was once offered to play a small role in “Iron Man 3”. The role later went to China’s superstar Fan Bingbing.
“I didn’t have to audition because the offer came from a friend who was working in the studio that collaborated with Hollywood,” she said as quoted.
“Of course they went with her (Fan Bingbing) because she’s such a big name. Even though it was just for the role of a secretary, no one wants to decline the chance to act in a Hollywood film.”
“Despite initially agreeing to the role, it was not meant to be. I’m not disappointed and accept the fact of who I am compared to Fan,” she continued.
“Marco Polo”
A few years after that, Daniella then received an offer to be part of Netflix’s “Marco Polo”. She was offered the role of Kokachin (Blue Princess) which later went to Chinese actress Zhu Zhu.
The production team asked her to send in her audition tape but sadly luck was not on her side as she was tied up as Singapore’s Mediacorp resident artiste at the time so she couldn’t find the time to record her audition.
“At that time, I was so bad at managing my schedule because I didn’t have a manager,” she said.
“Crazy Rich Asians”
For Jon M. Chu’s “Crazy Rich Asians”, Daniella actually went for audition four times for four different roles.
“After the fourth audition, they asked for my schedule and I had rehearsal commitments for the drama ‘Dosa’,” she explained.
“In the end, I felt sorry for myself because the rehearsal schedule was postponed. It was my own fault for not managing my schedule well.”
“Power Rangers”
Daniella was also offered to be part of the “Power Rangers” reboot, but despite her agent’s persuasion, she turned down the opportunity because the production was looking for actress between the ages 18 and 21.
“My age exceeded the conditions but my agent said I could get away with it because I look young. I insisted to say no to avoid any issues,” she told the daily.
“Until today, I’ve missed a lot of opportunities to act in Hollywood productions. But I’m not really worried because my agent there is still trying hard. It will happen one day,” she said.
