Arabella Ellen was eight years old when she thought she had her life all planned out. It was going to be simple: she would spend much of her youth in gymnastics before joining the national team, even training under local legend Farah Ann, and eventually representing the country at the SEA Games. Her entire family had relocated from Kuantan to KL, ready to watch her sports career flourish — until she was met with a back injury that ultimately put a halt to it.
“It was my lower back bone,” Arabella tells me. “I had to do a steroid injection, and after a few more months of training I decided to quit. It was during COVID, and I wanted to focus more on myself.” But her love for the sport began to dwindle long before the injury. “I realised that I was not good at my studies because of how busy I was with my training. I didn’t even have time to go out or hang out with friends except for Sundays only. It was just kind of very stressful to me, at least.”
Arabella turns 20 this year and she leads a vastly different life. On her quest to focus more on herself, she entered Dewi Remaja at 18 — making her among the youngest contestants ever on the show — and emerged as runner-up, kick-starting her first foray into acting. “My mom would always send me to auditions and castings,” she says of her youth, despite not quite being drawn to the world just yet. “And that’s how I found out about the whole process. Like, I’d have to go for castings to be able to act in a drama and everything. So from there, I started to push myself to work even harder.”
In the past two years alone, Arabella has worked with some of the biggest young stars of today: Mierul Aiman and Nadhir Nasar, just to name a few. She has a natural grace; a demureness that reminds me of a young Lily Collins. (Arabella counts the Emily in Paris actress as one of her major inspirations even long before the Netflix show.) “I love watching Lily Collins,” Arabella says. “I love her acting skills and all, it’s just very fun to watch her. I just didn’t pay attention back then because I was a kid. I’m still a kid, just playing around. But now, since I’m in the industry, I’ve realised that I can learn from other actors and actresses.”
The road to acting
Before Dewi Remaja, Arabella hadn’t considered acting — let alone believed that it would take on such a major role in her life. She was a shy kid growing up in Pahang (and still is). “Even meeting new people now, I’m still shy,” Arabella admits, “but once I get to know them more, then I’ll show them my ‘extrovert’ side.” She is also the youngest of three, which explains her energy on the set of our shoot: a little nervous yet excited; a bit of a risk-taker before the camera; and naturally charming.
But adjusting her life from one that she’s used to, to fit that of an actor’s, was not an easy task. “There was a moment when I first… I think it was my first drama that I shot,” Arabella opens up. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is hard.’ It was very challenging, and I didn’t know if I could do it. But I’m here now, so…” She shrugs, laughing. And there’s no other way to go but up, I chime in. “Yeah,” Arabella agrees, “if you feel like you’re not sure, just keep on going. You’ll find an answer.”
Arabella began garnering attention when she starred in the Astro Ria drama Dari Mata Turun Ke Hati (a local adaptation of the Japanese series Love’s in Sight!) alongside The Z List alumnus Mierul Aiman. It was her first ever lead role, and she was poised to play a girl with deprivation amblyopia — a condition that depicts partial blindness. “Oh my God, that was hard,” she says. “’Cause I just started acting, and I had to act with vision impairment issues. So, it was pretty hard. But at the same time, it was fun. I Googled stuff and did a lot of research just to be in that character, and to make sure that what I was doing was right. And I’m happy to be able to show people about how it actually feels for them.”
Her chemistry with Mierul Aiman in the show was electric. Mierul, who has long been known for playing the tough, hard-bitten character such as Fakhri in Projek: High Council, portrayed the kid from the wrong side of the tracks against Arabella’s feisty Iris Sofea — an unlikely pairing turned endearing romance. Over time, Arabella’s experience on the set of the show eventually encouraged her to be more communicative especially during the press run, for which she has also openly credited her co-star.
Merging the best of both her worlds
Since Dari Mata Turun Ke Hati, Arabella has also appeared in the Astro Ria drama Kelas Tahanan Cikgu Hiragialongside Nadhir Nasar and an ensemble cast. But her upcoming project, due to be released this September, is one she’s most excited about: Generasi: Perfect 10 on Astro Citra. The show will centre around a group of artistic gymnasts, giving Arabella a chance to draw from her real-life background. “Even some of the moves, I did them on my own because of my experience,” she says proudly. “It’s fun to finally show people the things that I can do.”
Unsurprisingly, Arabella’s go-to movies include a slew of the Avengers films of the last decade. (At 20 years old, these are the films she ultimately grew up with.) And thus, she longs to be able to showcase her love of action on the big screen. But acting has given her more than just the opportunity to show off her talent — it gives her a path to a brand new lifestyle that is somehow still reminiscent of the one she grew up with.
“If you feel like you’re not sure, just keep on going—because by then, you’ll find an answer.”
“It’s probably all of the preparation before the shooting,” Arabella tells me when I ask what she found most challenging during the filming of Generasi: Perfect 10. “Because I did a whole month of prep, going back to the gym just to learn the basics again. And it was all just very tough, like, I had to go through a diet and all, you know? That’s the toughest part so far.”
But when it comes to the job itself, Arabella takes it seriously. She’s not keen to go method, preferring to give it her all during the filming, then retreat back into her introverted self once it’s over. “Once I’m already on set and standing in front of the camera, I already click into my character,” she opens up about her process. “I cannot get any distractions. I do notlike when people distract me,” here, she laughs, “and off-set baru I just be myself instead of my character. Because I do not want to, like, stick with the character on- and off-set until it’s done.”
Staying on the grind
Watching Arabella on the set of our shoot today — hair primped to classic ‘60s-do perfection, her big Bambi eyes further accentuated with dramatic lashes — it’s easy to see that she can go far in the entertainment industry. She has a great work ethic and she adapts well to the environment around her. (She is, however, still getting used to scripts: “I need to find the mood when I can read it. Sometimes I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to read it yet.’ I’m just doing something else and I’m like, ‘Tak nak lah baca lagi, nanti lah.’ Until the last minute, then I grab those scripts and go through everything.” She affirms that memorising them isn’t a problem.)
But all in all, Arabella has proven herself more than capable thus far, and two years in, she genuinely enjoys her new lifestyle now. “I’ve learned a lot from my fellow cast members,” she muses. “There’s so much I’ve learned about acting, and being in the industry. And it’s fun. Acting is fun. The first two dramas that I shot, I found out that I want to act more. I want to be in more shows, in more dramas.”
“I’m still a kid, just playing around. But now, since I’m in the industry, I’ve realised that I can learn from other actors and actresses.”
editor-in-chief & creative direction MARTIN TEO | assisted by RONN TAN & MALLIE MARAN | interview PUTERI YASMIN SURAYA | photography EDMUND LEE (ONE3FOUR STUDIO) | videography POR JIA JUN & STANLEY LOH | makeup KEVIN LEE | hair CODY CHUA | styled by ISAAC CHONG | assistant stylist ZIYIN TAN | wardrobe COACH