How going to acting school unlocks success in showbiz, according to a Malaysian actress

The rise of social media has changed what it means to become a movie star.

Years ago, movie stars referred to someone whom you could only see in movies, TV shows, and at exclusive red-carpet events. Today, internet personalities (or influencers) seem to have wormed their way into the industry without any acting experience or film school education.

Take TikTok star Addison Rae, for example.

With 88.5 million followers and 5.8 billion likes on TikTok as of January 2025, Rae snagged the lead role for her first movie in “He’s All That,” a remake of the 1999 teen rom-com classic “She’s All That.”

Unfortunately for Rae, the reviews aren’t great.

The film boasts a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Media headlines tell you why: Vanity Fair went with “Addison Rae Doesn’t Quite Pull It Off in He’s All That,” ScreenRant said “TikTok Star Addison Rae Sinks In Shallow Remake,” and even Forbes shared their piece of mind with “Why Netflix’s Lazy ‘He’s All That’ Suggests A Grim Streaming Future.”

Rae’s inexperience was clear; some time spent in film school might have been helpful. Whatever the consensus is, most can agree with this one: polishing your craft can take you further than you can imagine.

At least, that’s what Malaysian actress Mia Sara Shauki believes.

Even with over 156,000 followers on TikTok and two years of professional experience in the local film industry, Shauki is still putting in the work by attending the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University in London. 

Mia Sara Shauki had over 156,000 followers on TikTok and two years of professional experience in the Malaysian film industry before attending acting school. Source: Mia Sara Shauki

How acting schools transform your work

“An actor can be considered a great one just based on how practised they are,” says Shauki. “I do feel like always trying to work on your craft is very important, and you get a lot out of just reminding yourself of the basic tools of what it means to be an actor.”

For Shauki, this means gaining as much knowledge as she can about not just acting but also the entire filmmaking process too.

From voice acting to scriptwriting, business in films to stage production, the 25-year-old aims to better herself as a versatile actress who can be featured in any genre by sponging every lesson she has learned in her classes.

The writing course, for example, was something Shauki found helpful when approaching scripts and storylines.

“We were given scripts from the BBC, and our lecturer would guide us in writing something based on the Hollywood or standard industry practice of how a storyline should go,” shares Shauki.

Another standout course was voice acting, covering not only the acting side but the business aspects of the craft too. It also touched on how voice talents get projects and what it means to be a live actor doing voice acting — a useful skill to have as more and more actors take to the scene.

Shauki attended acting school at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University in London. Source: Mia Sara Shauki

The Online Acting Diploma that Shauki enrolled in offered a blended programme that combines online and in-person learning and takes less than a year to complete. 

In just one year, Shauki further developed her acting skills and explored their fundamentals before putting them all to use onsite, even flying to London to create a short film project with her classmates.

It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least.

Shooting in the UK was an entirely different and new experience for her compared to the ones she was used to back home.

There, she worked under proper union body guidelines that are strict with the time spent in film production. This meant that filming was only expected to go on for a specific amount of hours in a day. If it went over the cut-off time, the crew should be able to receive overtime payment, an uncommon and almost unheard of benefit in Malaysia.

Instead, those working in Malaysia’s film production industry were expected to continue the work until the scene was complete. It was only recently, in February 2024, that the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia sought to implement a standard contract involving crew members, actors and producers containing detailed clauses regarding overtime issues.

For Shauki, experiencing a better work-life balance in the UK felt life-changing.

She also saw this as an opportunity to understand the international standard and try to implement it in her future work, especially since she was no stranger to being on the set of a film production.

Despite only really getting into the work professionally in 2019, the young actress has appeared in movies since 2004, crediting “Buli” — a Malaysian black comedy about a man being bullied due to his physical form — as her debut role.

“It was mostly because my father, who was the director of that film, needed an extra,” shares Shauki. “I wasn’t like doing Stanislavski at four years old, you know?”

But experience is experience nonetheless, and for Shauki, this gave her an added advantage to when she went to acting school.

“You get to pick up things like looking through the camera because the crew would show me what settings do and what buttons I should press,” she shares. “So, when it comes to formally learning in acting school, I could tell what these buttons did.”

Shauki intends to start filmmaking soon based on scripts she has written. Source: Mia Sara Shauki

Why it’s never a disadvantage to invest in your education

Shauki’s decision to attend acting school wasn’t one made out of the blue. In fact, she was encouraged to go by her parents — both of whom are in the art scene themselves.

Shauki’s father, Afdlin Shauki, is an actor and director who has worked on movies like the aforementioned “Buli” and its sequel, and “Papadom”, which won Best Film in Malaysia’s version of the Academy Awards, the Malaysia Film Festival. Her mother, on the other hand, was an actress who worked in theatre.

“As much as I wanted to do films like other child actors, they tried to prevent me from becoming that only because they felt like my education was important and they didn’t want me to grow up spoiled and wanting more out of life at such a very young age,” shares Shauki. “So, I do commend my parents for putting me through that.”

However, when asked if she would continue pursuing a more advanced degree, with the momentum she is getting in her professional career, as she has a few projects lined up, she would probably do it further in the future. 

“I just don’t have the financial means to do it at this point in time,” she says. “Even scholarships are difficult, and student loans here are not catered towards arts because even if you were to take those loans, you would have to work at a STEM company, maybe, which defeats the purpose of attending a performing arts school.”