Chaicharn Nimpoonsawasdi (Jung)

Chaicharn Nimpulsawasdi a fresh-faced model plays an obsessively cheerful Jung. Mr Chaicharn was the last actor to fill the major roles, but the first to appear on screen and set the upbeat tone of his first movie.

His very first debute was in TV commercial for a telephone company. Yongyoot Thongkongtoon, the director, said Jung had to be someone who talks and expresses his feelings too much, yet remains likeable. It was a hard part to fill because if an actor could not render it in a lovely way, viewers would end up hating him. But Mr Chaicharn's cute looks fitted the bill and he did a good job in portraying the over-confident, excessively happy gay man.

"At first I didn't know I had to be such a relentlessly joyful katoey," said the 20-year-old actor, "I am normally fun-loving and playful, but in a guy's way. But to be a gay guy, I had to be prissy and swank, expressing every mood in the fullest way, holding nothing back,"

The part not only demanded all his emotional energy to render the upbeat character, but Mr Chaicharn also had to undergo a physical transformation like other members of the team. He had a harder time of it than the others.

"I had to get rid of the hair on my legs. I used wax first. It hurt bad. So I changed to cream. That was even worse, burning and irritating my skin. Then I developed a reaction to wigs! There were about five of them. I had to wear them for up to 13 hours a day. It was so hot and itchy!" In an attempt to avoid the long wig, Mr Chaicharn had his hair extended. Wrong move. It didn't look right and in the end he had his head shaved.

About the katoeys he says, "Before this film, when I saw katoeys, I wondered what was wrong with them? Why didn't they like being guys? But through the film I realised sometimes people can't just choose what they are. Some gay people, just like those in the film, have great potential and there is no reason why we have to judge or be hostile to them."