24-year-old Jeeja or Yanin Witmitanan was not interested in martial arts, and never mentioned entering the entertainment world. It was her mother who encouraged her to learn martial arts.
“I was weak and suffered from an allergy when I was young. I was admitted to hospital a few times a year. So, my mom suggested me to practice taekwondo to enhance my health conditions. I didn’t like it at first but after the first class, I changed my mind completely. I had fun and felt good to move fast and kick a sandbag.”, said Jeeja.
Her life made a sharp turn after she met Pan-na Rit-thi-krai, a famous coach of many action movie stars including Tona Jaa.
Panna introduced her to veteran movie director Pratya Pinkaew who was looking for a female action movie star.
Jeeja was made to undergo a strict training course for four years before the shooting of her debut movie “Choccolate”. Her training list included various gymnastic skills and multiple martial arts, especially Thai boxing and taekwando.
During shooting of the film, Jeeja always returned home with some bruises or even wounds. The girl even thought of throwing in the towel.
“Sometimes I felt discouraged but my friend told me it’s not easy to be a star and I knew I had done too far to turn back or give up. When I was young, I practiced taekwondo to gain strength. But it is now an important part of my life. My career and my future lie in these self-defense skills. I am so proud of myself.”, said Jeeja.
With the launch of the movie during the Chinese New Year celebrations, “Sia-jiang”, owner of the Sahamongkolfilm, producer and distributor of the new film, vowed to put all possible efforts into propelling Jeeja to stardom as Asia’s queen of action movies. Sia-jiang made Tony Jaa a world-famous action hero.
Only time can tell if Jeeja will successfully become a female Tony Jaa. But she is already living testimonial to the saying the road to stardom is not a bed of roses, but a pool of tears and sweat.