Freen And Becky: The Meteoric Rise Of Freen Sarocha And Becky Rebecca

Vitamin boosters are like stamps that Thai celebs collect on their rise to stardom. It’s a necessity, especially when our cover girls, Sarocha “Freen” Chankimha and Rebecca “Becky” Patricia Armstrong, are functioning on four hours of sleep—on a lucky day—and have schedules tighter than a period drama corset.

Freen, the older of the two at 26, jokes, “We take turns getting sick and taking shots. We can’t be admitted into a hospital because with this line of work, literally no one can replace you. You can replace an accountant with another one, but there is just one Freen and one Becky so we just get a shot and get back to work. We’re always so thankful and happy when people enjoy our work.”

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Thailand is something of a factory when it comes to churning out boys’ love (BL) series, but in these past few years, girls’ love (GL) series have been catching up—and to much fanfare globally, from Southeast Asia to Mexico. Freen and Becky have become the ultimate poster girls for the genre, shooting to overnight fame in 2022 when they were coupled as the leads of Gap: The Series.

Hailed as the first GL drama in Thailand, the plot features Freen as a frosty CEO and Becky as a bubbly new hire, who has been secretly in love with the big boss since their school days. Freen’s intimidating froideur and Becky’s sparkliness onscreen work naturally, given their age gap of five years; but in real life, it is Freen who is the chatty one, while Becky is more introverted.

“Everything changed from back to front,” Freen says of their life-altering popularity after starring in lead roles aired on Thailand’s broadcast kingpin Channel 3. “There were a lot more jobs. More fans. More people who know us. And we have gotten to try more new things.”

“I think you can add the word ‘more’ to everything, really,” says Becky, who is half-Thai and half-British. The duo had dabbled in their share of modelling gigs, music videos, singing competitions, pageants and supporting roles on television since they were 18, but their big break came after Gap, which has clocked over 500 million views on YouTube since its release. Their densely packed day-to-day schedule alternates between fan meets, singing performances, filming, magazine shoots and appearances at fashion events.

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“I spend so much time on the back of a motorcycle because I don’t want to waste time being stuck in traffic,” reveals Freen. “I make the most of every day and will immediately spend time on self-care or with family and friends when the opportunity arises. I started working when I was in high school, but there wasn’t as much work then as there is now. But I’m starting to understand and live with it better now.”

Freen has a bachelor’s degree in public relations and corporate communication from Rangsit University, while Becky is still studying online for a double degree in law from the University of Essex in the UK. “Sometimes, I see university friends doing things together and wish I had moments like that too, but I’m well aware of my responsibilities here,” Becky shares pensively. “I believe in the ethos of work-hard-play-later. I’m here to do my best and I believe that everything will be returned to me later without my having to seek for it.”

The duo are busy filming two projects together and laugh at how every free minute of theirs goes to reading scripts. Much remains to be shot for The Loyal Pin, which will be airing in August. This first-ever GL-period drama, set in 1950s Thailand, is based on a novel of the same name. The drama sees the leading ladies as aristocrats, with Freen and Becky decked out in period garb. A concurrent project—which forces the actresses to juggle between vastly different roles—is the sci-fi movie Uranus 2324. Slated for release in theatres in June, the action flick is also a love story between a NASA astronaut and a diver.

“Uranus was one of the hardest things for me to do,” says Becky. “My character is a diver so I had to scuba dive, while Freen is up in space. It’s really a bunch of life-threatening sequences! The pictures came out great though, so people may not realise how difficult and tough the behind-the-scenes were. I think when I wasn’t in the industry yet, from the outside looking in everything looks good and glamorous. It’s only when you are in the industry that you realise this job is no easy walk in the park.”

Alongside these physical curveballs, there’s also a gaggle of detractors slinging hateful comments online that the pair weather daily. On how to navigate the onslaught of negativity, Becky says, “Before, I had the urge to reply to those nasty comments, explaining, ‘Hey it’s not like that,’ and so forth. Now I just feel like there is nothing to gain from doing that. Leave them be and ignore them because we can’t change them. I think the more famous you become, it’s a given that you’ll have more haters, but it also means more people are interested in you and that at least you’re going somewhere in a positive way.” Likewise, Freen prefers to let her work and success speak for itself.

Practising self-love is something she hopes everyone takes up, saying, “I want everyone to love themselves a lot, because in the end, the person who is with you at all times is yourself. Every day brings challenges that test you and if you don’t love yourself enough, it can be very hard to want to carry on some days. Be happy on your own terms. I want our fans to make us one of their joys, but not their everything. If we were gone one day, I want them to be able to smile and laugh outside of us, too, and to be happy with other things.”

When asked about having their own free time, both looked a little bemused. Freen jokes that she has forgotten what it feels like to do her hair, chill in a café with friends or stroll through an art exhibition. And being the sporty girl that she is, Becky dreams of expending her energy on soccer, tennis and boxing. As for their future plans, Becky is looking forward to graduating, while Freen wants to buy a house to live in with her mother and her dachshund, Fluffy.

Clearly, the actresses have their hands full; do they even indulge in retail therapy, we wonder? “At the airport! Sooo fun!” Becky blurts out. Freen nods excitedly, “Oh yes, we love shopping at the airport. We feel that those two hours before a flight are so valuable. I usually do most of my shopping online and when I am stressed, I just click, click, click away.” With retail therapy as a coping mechanism, their strong work ethic and boundless energy, there’s no doubt their careers will propel them to Uranus and beyond.

Editor-in-Chief: Kenneth Goh
Photographer: Naruebes Vadvaree
Stylist: Windy Aulia
Makeup (Becky): Pongpakorn Nutchanart
Makeup (Freen): Suphanut Tichana
Hair (Becky): Wipaluk Kanda
Hair (Freen): Sittipong Metha
Photographer’s Assistants: Poomin Wongsing, Wiroon Wuttiphongdecha, Nattapong Amkham
Assistant Stylist: Gracia Phang
Stylist’s Assistants: Phi Ritwiwat, Patipan Limsuwash