FANS of Ernie Zakri often associate her with power-packed vocals and hit duets with Syamel Fodzly.
But the popular niece of veteran singers Ziana and Anuar Zain has another talent that can further enhance her showbiz career in the years to come — Bahasa Malaysia voiceover work, especially for animated films and series.
Movie-goers loved her versatile “voice acting” in the hit animated film Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal earlier this year.
Not only did she serenade them with the enchanting theme song Buai Laju-Laju, she also played two supporting characters, Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih.
“It was quite a challenge to voice twin sisters who were exact opposites. First there was the honest-to-goodness Bawang Merah who is straightforward, compassionate, upright but a little “manja” (pampered), and then there was her younger twin, Bawang Putih, who used to be a whiny, spoilt brat but turned over a new leaf to become a cheeky and ‘gedik’ (flirtatious) teenager,” she said at the recent launch of Astro’s Ramadan and Hari Raya television programmes at Majestic Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
Ernie, 26, is glad that Upin & Ipin producer Burhanuddin Mohd Radzi and his production team “coached” her well in playing the twin sisters, who are based on characters from Malay folklore.
“Burhanuddin told me to imagine myself as two diametrically opposite siblings who had their flaws, but nevertheless, shared a trait, that of being caring towards adorable youngsters like Upin and Ipin.
SUGAR AND SPICE
“One had to be ‘sugar’ and the other had to be ‘spice’ but at the end of the day, both had to be nice,” said Ernie.
The production team placed a poster of a cheerful Upin and Ipin in front of Ernie when she was doing voiceover work in the studio. This, she said, helped her “connect”.
“That was the eye-to-eye contact which I needed to talk to the little heroes. The producer told me, to get into my character, I had to ‘mingle’ a little with Upin and Ipin.”
When Ernie’s parents, siblings and close friends watched Keris Siamang Tunggal with her, they hardly recognised Ernie as the voice behind Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih because the sisters’ mannerisms, movements, facial expressions and looks were different from Ernie’s.
“In fact, they thought the girl who voiced Merah and Putih was Ayda Jebat! Yes, Ayda and I agree that Merah and Putih resemble her more than me, and that’s great because this means I’ve managed to ‘play’ two people who don’t resemble me at all!”
Keris Siamang Tunggal is Ernie’s second voiceover project.
“A few years ago I voiced a minor character in a short online animated film. I didn’t have to say much then, but the experience got me interested in voicing a major animated film character.”
Ernie likens voiceover work to singing, as in both instances she has to “put lots of heart and soul” into her performances.
“Burhanuddin told me that to voice a character, I must understand him or her well, understand the surroundings, observe the character’s movements, and absorb the mood of each scene,” she said.
“It does not matter if the character you voice does not resemble you, what is important is you must be able to ‘get into’ the character’s mind and soul.”
FINDING HER VOICE
Ernie would love to do voiceover work in live action films, particularly international films dubbed in Bahasa Malaysia.
“It is a lot more challenging when it comes to voicing real actors and actresses. We must have an eye for detail and our Bahasa Malaysia dialogue must match the lip movements of the characters we voice,” she said.
Ernie would also like to voice animal characters, such as those in Disney movies like Madagascar, The Lion King and Bambi.
“I love cute, furry animal characters and how Disney humanises them. Bambi was one of my childhood favourites, and it would be great to voice him,” she said.
If she were to voice the “leading lady” of an animated film, would Ernie choose her singing partner Syamel as her “leading man”?
“Many of my friends ask me this, but honestly, I’d prefer to have Akim Ahmad as my on-screen ‘voice partner’. He did a great job voicing cartoon heroes such as Jumbo the blue elephant in the Bahasa Malaysia edition of that popular animated film. And if I were to choose a female ‘co-star’ in voiceover work, Ayda is just right — she’s funny and I’m serious."
Ernie, who won Bintang RTM 2009, is a music diploma graduate from Universiti Teknologi Mara, and doubles as a music teacher, who coached some of the participants of Astro veteran singers’ challenge, Gegar Vaganza.
She won Astro’s celebrity duet challenge Duo Star in 2016, in partnership with Akademi Fantasia 2015 runner-up Syamel, and their hit duet Aku Cinta has had 3.4 million views on YouTube.