Qasrina Karim is all profuse apologies as she slips into the studio. She’s a little late to our cover shoot; she’d missed her alarm, but we’ve got all day and a range of outfits to work through. Before anything else, Qasrina makes her way to the makeup chair, trying to get her bearings. She’s still frazzled as she takes her seat, but even with a lack of sleep (she had pulled an all-nighter for a shoot, wrapping at 6 AM) her skin is seemingly flawless. The concept for today is pretty straightforward: a natural, glowy look enhanced by Dior Beauty; all while letting the pieces from Dior’s Fall/Winter 2026 collection speak for themselves.
The theme of our shoot is ‘gentle expressions’, which is an appropriate phrase for Qasrina, who embodies the graceful yet forceful presence on- and off-screen. In the recent years, she has built up a prolific career in acting for herself across genres, but Qasrina still traces it all back to her first film, Kongsi Raya.
“It was because of that movie, and the experience I had with those people, that I continue doing what I’m doing now,” she says to me. “Because it was such a good experience. It set the tone [for me]. It’s something I knew I wanted to do, because of that.”
Before Kongsi Raya came about, Qasrina had been modelling exclusively for the modest clothing brand Alhumaira — and even that came into her life unexpectedly. “I was studying, I was in my third year,” she says, “and I did not consider the industry as a full-time job for myself, because I also come from a very traditional background. My parents work nine-to-five, my siblings work nine-to-five. After I graduated, the plan was actually to further my studies just like my siblings did, in the UK. But when I graduated in 2020, it was COVID. My convocation was postponed to two years later, and the UK was hit with COVID really bad.”
She’d decided to defer her studies, and that was when she’d gotten the email to go for the casting call for Kongsi Raya. After a few weeks, she’d gotten the part and learned that she’d be acting alongside some local legends: Erra Fazira, Harith Iskander, Chew Kin Wah, Wilson Lee.
“I was, like, shocked,” Qasrina says, laughing. “But it was an amazing experience because that, for me, set the tone of what I wanted to do. Given the fact that, I had to memorise a lot of Mandarin dialogues. And because I don’t speak Mandarin, it was quite tough. But it was something that I was already set to do, so I made sure I did it. But besides that, it was a very fun experience because of the team I worked with. The director, Teddy Chin, is such an amazing person. He really guided me through it. And I’d never acted before, so he was like, ‘I don’t want you to act. I want you to be yourself in this.’ I think that’s why it was so easy on that set. He let me be myself. He wanted me to be myself. If anything, my reactions and my responses in the film, it was really me.”
Qasrina carried this mindset with her for a while — at least for the next few projects she’d done. I tell her that my first on-screen encounter of her (and, in my opinion, the most enduring one) is with Legenda Puteri Qaseh, and she laughs. “Oh my god, really?! Thank you!” I thought she perfectly embodied the role of a small-town girl turned distinguished princess.
“I’m the people’s princess, right?” Qasrina jokes, laughing again. “Every set is different, no matter how ‘light’ or ‘heavy’ the show is. One thing I learned throughout the years is that it’s how you treat the job. We’re human, and we’re playing with emotions. We’re putting our heart and soul into a movie or show, right? And I think it depends on the director as well. Being a small town girl was easy, but actually becoming the princess… the director really wanted me to embody confidence, which I kind of struggled with early on. Even though the show is like a ‘kid’s show’, a fantasy, the speeches were something I actually struggled with to be confident. Because I had to convince people, and the director wasn’t convinced. So, it was something I had to work on. Every show is a different process, and it’s how I prepare for it [that matters]. Whatever it may be, a comedy or drama, I never underestimate the weight of the show. Even if it’s a comedy, it has weight to it. It has depth, and it has to have the strength to go behind it.”
She went on to star in a few more lighthearted romantic comedy series, first season, including Imam Instant Ustazah Scammer and My Famous Ex-Boyfriend, but her last series Thariq Ridzuwan: His Treasure, is anything but a comedy. “That one was really heavy on depression and trauma,” she says. “And I had to embody that, you know, mental illness. So the prep for that… the process of it is really understanding. It’s studying, it’s asking around, learning. And one thing I learned is that I am able to empathise with my characters.”
Earlier this year, Qasrina worked on Garis Takdir, an upcoming drama which she describes as “a very heavy piece”. “I really, really prepped for that one, I embodied the character and I was able to really feel the pain that the character felt,” she says. “And when that happens, it becomes easier. You become the character. But then when you go home, you know… I live with my parents and I don’t want to bring that character home. It’s something that you’ve gotta shut off. I treat it like a nine-to-five job, like, I go to set and this is my work, then I go back home. And when I see my parents, I see my friends, I try not to bring that energy. Or if I do, I avoid people. That is something I learned during Thariq Ridzuwan, too. I isolated a lot because I knew I wasn’t technically myself. But for my second piece, I knew how to handle myself and how to work around it. It’s all experience, honestly. You just learn as you go along. But without Thariq Ridzuwan or Garis Takdir, I wouldn’t know. I wouldn’t be able to do all this.”
After working on heavy dramas back to back, Qasrina is set to appear in Chiu Keng Guan’s upcoming film, Terbang, based on Malaysian rally driver Karamjit Singh — who was also the first-ever Asian driver to win the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile Production Car World Championship for Drivers (and did so on his first try). While she’ll be playing a supporting role, she does have her own scenes to look forward to. “I’m really just happy to be part of this film,” Qasrina says, beaming. “It’s an amazing one. It’s all about unity, about our Malaysian drivers and how [Karamjit Singh] managed to put Malaysia on the map with rally racing. And it’s a very well-made, well-thought-out movie by the wonderful director. (Chiu Keng Guan also directed the critically acclaimed Ola Bola). It’s something that everyone should look out for, it’s going to be very heartwarming.”
In the midst of our conversation, Qasrina gets her hijab styled before the fitting — in her signature classic ‘everyday wrap’ style, framing her face firmly. Her skin is glowing, enhanced only by Dior Beauty. (She tells me some of her go-to beauty products: the Dior Forever Cushion, which gives her just “the perfect amount of glow” and also the classic Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil.) She’s meant to don a soft butter yellow chiffon piece from Dior for her first look, with grand ruffles and a stunning flower brooch as the outfit’s centrepiece.
“When I do a heavy piece, people DM me, saying, ‘Thank you for understanding what I go through. Thank you for telling my story,’” Qasrina opens up. “I feel like those people who struggle with being seen or being heard… I can be that medium, where if they struggle to tell anyone, they can just say, ‘Watch her. That’s exactly what I’m going through.’ Because usually the first thing people see is that we’re just acting to entertain. But I see it in a different light now, that I can actually help people sometimes. When people are drowning, they don’t tell you they’re drowning. They struggle to tell you, ‘I’m struggling, I need help.’ So, when they tell me thank you — and I have gotten a lot of that, ever since Thariq Ridzuwan — I think that is the biggest achievement in a way, helping people. Because you never really think that acting is about helping other people, not at first.”
Of course, being in showbiz comes with its perks and cons. “I do feel like people, especially these days, feel entitled to say anything and everything they want to say about public figures, especially in this age of social media,” she shares, “Yes, there is freedom of speech. But if it’s about criticising people just for the fun of it, then what’s the point, you know? That’s the not fun part in the industry.” I ask her how she personally deals with that — especially after six years of it. “When I started, trust me, it was a process,” she adds. “I’ve gotten so hurt from people’s words… which is fair, I’m only human. But people’s words were really, really mean. I feel like I’ve never really done anything explicitly to gain negative attraction. And when I’ve gotten it, it was merely based on my looks, my features, which I feel is unfair because these are my God-given features, you know? I can’t change it. But as time goes by, you learn to just shut it off, because you realise that you cannot control other people’s opinions, but you can control how you react and respond to it. I’ve just been more concerned on how I deal with things.”
I ask about her peers and, seeing just how level-headed and unpretentious she is, I’m not surprised when Qasrina tells me that her friends today are her ‘day one’ friends. “I’ve been blessed with the same group of friends since university, we’re still friends until now because they keep me grounded,” she says. “We’ve been friends even before I was in the industry; we clicked when we were eighteen, and it’s been more than a decade. But as for the people in the industry, I don’t have too many friends. I only have a few I can count. I have my guardian angels, as I call them, in the industry. Things have happened before within the industry, and they are the ones who have called me up and told me things that protect me. That’s when I know they’re really genuine, so I keep them close to me.”
Looking ahead, Qasrina is excited for what’s to come next year. “I think 2027 is going to be interesting,” she muses, but won’t say more even as I press on. “I’ve got a few things coming out next year. And I hope people see what I’m doing and they like it, because next year is going to be a very interesting year. So I hope that people like it. I hope that people, you know, stay tuned and enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed doing it.”
creative direction MARTIN TEO | interview PUTERI YASMIN SURAYA | editorial team MALLIE MARAN & RONN TAN | photography EDMUND LEE | assisted by ZANE | videography POR JIA JUN & BOBO HOO | makeup artist KEVIN LEE using DIOR BEAUTY | styled by AZZA ARIF | hijab styling FARAH DINANA | wardrobe DIOR | location THE COLLECTION STUDIOS
Find out more about QASRINA KARIM in the latest issue of LSA Digital Cover Vol. 048 HERE.
Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
