100 Malaysians, 100 Milestones – LSA100 this year celebrates the achievements of actress Siti “Sally” Saleha, who brought home the Outstanding Asian Star at the Seoul International Drama Awards 2024 for her role in “SeOfis”. Embodying the voice of the ‘strong female lead’, Sally continues on her path to pave the way for women to tell the stories they deserve to.
Siti Saleha is positively radiant. She’s already smiling before she slips into the studio, her figure petite but her presence strong. Siti Saleha, who’s better known as “Sally” by her peers and the public, has her dark hair in a neat ponytail down her back. She’s been very busy this year, and also very happy — and as is the case with her, it shows.
“After years of being in the industry, you tend to become more careful about picking your characters,” Sally said the last time we spoke. “Of course at the start you’ll have to go through the masses’ choice. But as you tackle that, you gain experience and you grow so that you can pave the way for better roles. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of roles that are quite demeaning and even degrading to women. I’m starting to make better choices about that, which also means more sacrifices.”
In this past year alone, she has made good on that pledge. Last October she took on the role of Sofi in That Cover Girl, a drama about a dynamic businesswoman running a fashion empire whose goal is to keep it from falling under. The series was released on Amazon Prime Video, and was also Malaysia’s first original series to air on the platform. (It went on to win three national awards at the 2024 Asian Academy Creative Awards.)
This July she was in the women-led series SeOfis that aired on Tonton, about working women in their 30s who overcome the ups and downs of their business together, challenging the patriarchal nature of the corporation. And only last month she starred in The Secret on Viu, as a university professor determined to get to the bottom of her student’s suicide turned rape-and-murder case — in a world where women are often silenced and the truth is erased.
“I still do TV, I’ve not left,” Sally clarifies, “but I just wanna get away from that ‘cause I’ve been doing so many dramas on streaming (OTT), and it’s been so good. OTT is a bit different because you have more freedom to explore the characters, and the stories are more daring… so what you don’t see on TV lah when you wanna get away from the stereotypical roles. Like, The Secret was about sexual harassment, sexual assault and mental health as well. Stories that people can relate to. Sorry lah, but what we see on TV is still always on the surface. Things are happening but there’s nothing being done to solve that. No diving deeper into that cause. Where is the message in that? The Secret is all about all these themes. In the end I hope it did make a difference, you know.”
For her performance in SeOfis as the ambitious and driven Sam — whose goal it is to land herself on the Forbes’ 40 Under 40 list — Sally won the Outstanding Asian Star award at the Seoul International Drama Awards 2024, held in South Korea. (Also awarded were Byeon Woo-seok and Kim Hye-yoon from the hit K-drama Lovely Runner.) “I get a lot of reporters telling me, ‘You’ve had much more amazing performances in other stories,’” Sally says. “But it just goes to show that sometimes you don’t have to try so much and, you know, with simple characters like this we can still go far.” While SeOfis didn’t tackle themes as heavy or as The Secret, sometimes the simplest stories can perhaps be the most meaningful.
Outside of work, she’s also been very busy and very happy. Halfway through talking about how exciting and stimulating her gigs have been, she lets it slip that she’s engaged. “I’m in such a happy place right now,” she says, beaming. “Things have been flowing very nicely, and I guess it was just the next step really. We’ve been together for two to three years already, so it felt nice. Even saying ‘I love you’ is like, there’s no force there. It’s just organic. And the proposal… we hiked up Mount Kinabalu. He’s hiked up twice already, and I’ve always said ‘I really wanna do that!’ So he brought me there and he proposed, and I said yes.”
Congratulations on winning the Outstanding Asian Star in South Korea for SeOfis! What was that experience like at the Seoul International Drama Awards?
So, the whole process started with my manager. She sent me a link to the Seoul International Drama Awards and she said, “Okay, so this is happening. I think the fans will vote for you.” It was sent in for evaluations to the judges; we had many different entries from Malaysia and SeOfis was one of them. Then the judges evaluated them, and the process went onto the next one, where the fans would have to vote for their favourite lah. I didn’t really expect much, right? And I thought, ‘Well, I have won an international award before.’ But it’s always, like, ‘Is this real?’ ‘Is this, you know, forreal?’ And then I did some digging. I did my own research. The Seoul International Awards had been going on for about more than 10 years actually, and the last year Malaysia brought home this award was 2017. So yeah, it’s great to finally bring it home!
Tell me a little bit more about SeOfis. I remember the last time we spoke, you were very vocal about having more female-driven stories, more ‘strong women’ characters. And it seems that SeOfis really emphasises that. How did SeOfis come about for you? Like, what was your initial approach to the character and the story, and the script etc.?
SeOfis is about these three girls with different professions, different backgrounds and how they navigate through working together and building a friendship with each other, and how they make it last. It’s actually quite a simple story. Come to think of it, it’s like something, you know, that goes on in our everyday lives, especially for people working in the office, in a co-working space. They all can relate to that. So yeah, we shot it at Common Ground. It wasn’t like your 7 p.m. drama Akasia, you know, where it’s like you need to cry to it. It’s a feel-good show, and it goes back to our society as well in a way. It’s an everyday conversation, like, what goes on in the office. I would say it’s really sweet, too, because my character Sam, she’s all about being a go-getter. She wants to be an accomplished architect, right? And she did. So, how she went from where she was to working with these amazing girls, and how they lift each other up and inspire one another and do their best. And then she gets the Best Architect award! So while I was on that stage receiving my ‘award’ I was like, “This is so ironic.” I can’t believe I won an award from it too, and kind of embodied what Sam was doing in a way. Like, yeah, I am also a go-getter, I am also trying to achieve my dreams and secara tak langsung I also got an international award!
What was the initial approach of the story when you first read the script? Were you figuring out the characters? Was it easy to create a bond with the girls?
They kinda approached me, like, a year before so at the time it wasn’t like, “Oh, I’ve got nothing on so let’s do it.” Of course I had to read the script, and then I saw that they were very, very prepared. The producer called me up and he basically explained the whole story to me, the gist of it, thirteen episodes. He wanted to get back into, you know, the premium series and all. We have other platforms that are rising and doing more content. And I love that it’s not your typical drama slot. Although it’s Tonton, which is still TV3, it’s not your drama dekat TV, you know? It’s not your drama petang drama malam. It’s so different. Again, like I said, I wanna lean more into women empowerment and more women-dominated, more women-centric films. So I was quick to jump onboard and say yes. It was more a concern of, who are the other girls, you know? ‘Cause it is a simple story, but at the same time you don’t want to just do it for the sake of doing it. What if the story doesn’t go right? You need other strong characters, strong actors as well to help jayakan benda tu lah. And then you have Nadiya Nisaa, oh my God. Nadia Aqilah, who is another superstar. So it worked. When we saw each other at the script reading, we were like, “I did this because you, you know.” So it’s like we already had that relationship.
What do you feel about the show or about the story that made it won the award since there were other shows as well?
I know Syafiq Kyle was also one of the nominees, for Doh. And I watched Doh — it is again still very simple but of course relatable, you know? It all goes back to culture. People can relate to that although it’s a different story. SeOfis is more… I think it goes back to, you know, character-driven stories, stories about working together, love stories. It’s so simple, not trying so hard. It’s more about the characters and how we bring them to life. ‘Cause I read the script, we all had to go ‘bigger’. At the same time you wanna get out of your comfort zone. I get a lot of reporters telling me, ‘You’ve had much more amazing performances in other stories.’ But it just goes to show that sometimes you don’t have to try so much and, you know, with simple characters like this we can still go far. We can get an international award if we just work hard, you know? Just believe in yourself that you can, and you will.
Now that you’ve brought home an international award for SeOfis, we do hope to anticipate more women stories, right? Besides that, what kind of characters or stories are you most excited to explore next? How do you hope to challenge yourself even further in the future?
Wow, so I haven’t done any biographical roles. I think that’s more challenging ‘cause you are portraying a public figure. You need people to see that it’s believable, that you’re not playing yourself. You’re playing someone else. That’s gonna be a full-on challenge. I haven’t gotten any tawaran in that sense. But I look at Natalie Portman and how effortlessly she brought Jackie [Kennedy], right? And Nicole Kidman with Grace Kelly. I’m a Pisces so I tend to dream. (laughs)
How has the international recognition made you reflect on your journey, and what do you hope your success represents for aspiring actors in Malaysia?
Indirectly, we are also role models to them. But sometimes I forget; sometimes all these roles that you bring, that you carry, you have fans or even, you know — like, my friends would tell me, “I really like this role you did, in a way you inspire me.” Someone can resonate with that character, or that character is them. I get all these comments. And I had an appreciation dinner with my fans recently. Usually it’s a big group and I don’t get to be intimate with them, but that night I was like, “So, what drew you to join my fanclub? What characters did you like the most?” And most of them said Mia Adriana [in 7 Hari Mencintaiku] or Nora Elena [in Nora Elena], which I played in 2011. At the time I was 21 and I had to carry a character that was so mature for my age. I was like, “Can I do this?” And it left an impact! People were inspired by and loved that character so much. Sometimes I lupa tau, I don’t know. I’m just doing this for fun but it’s also my passion and I love doing it. Secara tak langsung people relate, and they appreciate you telling this story. So this is all for them.
I’m still overwhelmed and still pinching myself today, because the award was a huge one and it’s every girl’s dream in the industry to go international and win an award outside of Malaysia. To carry Malaysia’s name and to represent Malaysia on a global stage is still such a proud moment. I was just manifesting like, “It’s mine!” It was a huge accomplishment. And I like this pace, you know, how I started and where I am now. ‘Cause I had a whole interview before I went to Seoul and they were like, “So how do you feel?” And I’m like, “Just don’t give up on your dreams really, just keep doing what you love.” And kalau rezeki ada somewhere else, that’s great! And don’t let age stop you as well. I’m 34 and never in my mind I’m thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll retire at this age.’ I do wanna keep going on. If it’s not in front of the camera, I wanna do something behind the camera, too.
editor-in-chief & creative direction MARTIN TEO | interview PUTERI YASMIN SURAYA | editorial team MALLIE MARAN, MELISSA FOONG, RONN TAN | photography EDMUND LEE (ONE3FOUR STUDIO) | assisted by ZANE | videography JIA JUN POR & STANLEY LOH | art director JOYCE LIM | makeup SHENG SAW | hairstyling CODY CHUA | styled AZZA ARIF | wardrobe FENDI, LOUIS VUITTON
Check out LSA100 Class of 2024 HERE.
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Written by
Puteri Yasmin Suraya
Senior Writer, Features and Tech
Hailing from an English Literature & Creative Writing background, Yasmin has a deep love for fiction and poetry. When she’s not reading or café-hopping, she spends most of her time in the comfort of her own room binge-watching period romances, (badly) belting out show tunes, and curating Spotify playlists to match her mood for the week.
