Sawanee “Eiang” Utoomma

Award-winning Actress

Industry : The Arts

Sawanee became a household name for playing the title role in the award-winning 2021 Thai-Korean horror film “The Medium” for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the 30th Suphannahong National Film Awards. The film was selected, but not nominated, as the Thai entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. She is much more than an actress, having earned success as theatre director, producer and playwright as well. She discovered her passion for acting as a young high school pupil in her hometown of Ubon Ratchathani, doing a comedy skit which brought the house down. Since then, she would do everything behind the scenes, walk-on or supporting roles, or even contemporary dance, in order to be part of the performance. She feels that acting is a key to learning about ourselves, our society, and the cause and effect of our actions. Despite her success with “The Medium”, she looks back to her theatre performances “17 May My Valentine” and “Ja Wan Nai Nai” (No Matter When) for the Bangkok Theatre Festival 2008 which was recognised as an Outstanding Play (Social Network Advocacy). For these solo performances, she not only acted, but wrote the script based on her own life experiences of the Black May protests, directed and produced. She is a sought-after acting coach, and holds well-attended acting workshops.