The craziest thing that’s happened in Myra Molloy’s life since her new movie was released is that nothing really has changed.
“I think people have this kind of assumption that your life just drastically changes after something comes out. But it’s just like, actually my life is exactly the same,” the 28-year-old says. “Other than the occasional person being like, ‘Oh, I loved you in the film or whatever.’ But it’s just like I still do the same things. I still eat my eggs in the morning and I walk to Pavilions and then I come home and I take a nap and then I do it all over again.”
That said, there is the occasional conversation on that grocery run that turns into a heart-to-heart, and in those moments Molloy can feel that something has shifted.
“It’s been quite amazing having real-life encounters with people on the street who have either cried to me or just expressed heartfelt thanks and are like, ‘Thank you. I feel so seen. Thank you for representing us,’” she says. “So that has been the most beautiful, rewarding thing, is just knowing that art does make a difference. That’s why we want to do this.”
She stars in “Girls Like Girls,” singer-songwriter Hayley Kiyoko’s directorial debut, which follows two teenage girls who navigate their feelings for each other over the course of a summer. Molloy was a fan of Kiyoko’s music prior to receiving the audition in her inbox, having grown up “steeped in American pop culture” as a teenager. The fact that the movie was from the studio Focus Features left Molloy “gagged.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m a full-blown cinephile, but I do love movies. I love ‘Tar.’ I love ‘Brokeback Mountain.’ I love all the stuff that Focus Features does. So I was like, ‘OK, this is really cool,’” she says.
Myra Molloy
Courtesy Photo
Kiyoko’s script stayed with Molloy, even as she tried to lower her own expectations of landing the role.
“It was just so poignant and emotional and just really reminded me of the emotions I felt and went through growing up,” she says.
Molloy’s journey into acting has been less than linear — or, in her words, “a lot of side quests that became my main quest that became offshoots to other tributaries — very weird stuff.”
She was born and raised in Bangkok but her parents took the family to New York annually, and Molloy was introduced to Broadway. Back home she spent hours at the movie theater during the warmer months to bask in the air conditioning. At age 13 she won “Thailand’s Got Talent,” and went on to sing with the Bangkok Opera. After wrapping “Girls Like Girls,” she was cast on Broadway in “Hadestown,” becoming the first Thai actress to star in a leading role on Broadway.
“But I didn’t really think I could pursue it until much later in life. I still don’t think I can do this,” Molloy says now. “I always joke that I’m professionally unemployed. I’m your random friend on a Tuesday going to Pilates at 2 [p.m.] and getting lunch at 3. Job security just doesn’t exist in this industry. So truly after every job, I’m just like, ‘Is this still what I should be doing? Am I ever going to get another job?’”
With age — and success — she’s learning to trust the process a little bit more.
“I’ve very much surrendered to life and experiencing it and not tying my self-worth to my career, which was very much the case when I was in my early 20s,” she says. “I think there’s this very strong narrative of ‘You need to make it when you’re young, otherwise you’re a has been’ kind of mentality, which I think is so false. That is not true at all. But when you’re young and in that competitive pool, that’s very much the narrative you’re fed of, ‘Well, you’re young and hot, you have to break through now before you’re chopped and ugly and washed up and 35.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m almost 30. I am a child. Mean.’”
With another still-secret role lined up, Molloy won’t be at midday Pilates for the near future.
“My whole life ethos right now is very much just wanting to have fun,” she says. “The stakes used to be so high and I used to zoom in on everything and take everything so seriously. And I think there’s a time and place where serious matters, but when it comes to acting, I’m just like, ‘Just have fun.’ That’s what I want to do. I just want to do cool s–t, to put it simply.”
