HER stage name may be Sweet, but Farhanna Qismina Supandi may now call herself Strong instead.
She is set to appear in her most challenging role to date, playing a young woman with a crippling disease that affects her nervous system.
And to prepare herself for this tough role, the 27-year-old actress had to endure a strict, liquid-based diet that was bereft of sweetness.
HUNGER PANGS
"I had to survive on a diet milk formula for two weeks. And since I was not used to it, I developed pangs of hunger throughout the day.
"Worst of all, I was allergic to a substance in the formula and had a bit of a rash.
"Thank God it was not serious," said Sweet at the launch of her latest film 'Babah' at Ken TTDI in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, recently.
Thanks to her regime, Sweet lost quite a lot of weight in two weeks. Whenever she craved for solid food, she took an egg, an apple, soup or kimchi to cope with the feeling.
"All these were downed with plain tea, plain coffee, or best of all, plain water," she said, adding that the diet made her feel "down and bored" at times.
"I kept telling myself, you can do it, and that kept me going.
"Also, my mother and my husband, who is also in the movie, have been very supportive of me."
Sweet's actor husband, Adam Lee, understood her well and rewarded her with a visit to a popular local holiday destination after her filming concluded.
"A well-deserved vacation with lots of sun and sea. I was physically and mentally exhausted after we called it a day on the set."
TWO PARTS
'Babah', which was filmed over a month early this year, is a production by Nads Media Entertainment.
The touching father-daughter story sees Sweet portraying Maya, who is close to her deaf father Isyak — played by Qi Razali of 'Jalan Jalan Cari Makan' and 'War on Terror: KL Anarki' fame.
'Babah' is the story of the sacrifice of a father for his daughter and is divided into two parts.
The first focuses on Maya's growing up years, and reveals how she and her father develop their unique sign language, which only they can understand.
The second part sees an adult Maya stricken by Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and how Isyak takes good care of her as she undergoes treatment and faces the possibility of being confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
The coming-of-age film is set over 30 years from 1990 to 2020, and also stars Cristina Suzanne Stockstill as Maya's mother Hayati and Adam as her boyfriend, and later husband Ikmal.
MEANINGFUL ROLE
Sweet said 'Babah' was a movie she could not resist as the story reminded her of the time she spent with her late father, who died when she was only 11.
Sweet is the fourth of five children, and was the closest to her father whom she also addressed as Babah.
"Maya is a very meaningful role for me. She is my heaviest drama character and most challenging role," she said.
Sweet loves Maya's character arc — she is a daughter who learns to communicate with her deaf father, and then falls very ill and has to be cared for by him.
"What I love most about her is, she is a fighter. And she has 200 per cent faith in her Babah as the one man who can save her."
Sweet learnt sign language from an instructor on set and described the experience as interesting and enlightening.
"Sign language is not easy but it is fun. American and British sign language systems are different too," she said.
She added that it was a major challenge to move her hands in tandem with the words spoken by the actor or actress whom she was sharing a scene with.
"I also met handicapped people and learnt from observing them."
Sweet, who has been acting since she was 6, thanked Qi and Cristina for their guidance and useful acting tips.
"To bond with Qi, I had to address him as Babah throughout filming," she said, adding that the actor was more of a big brother than a father to her.
Playing Maya has "snapped" Sweet out of her comfort zone.
"I want to do more challenging roles. After all, good actresses must push their limits always."
Sweet admitted that since Maya was played by two different actresses, Kis Aisha and herself, she had to make sure that the adult Maya was consistent with the teenage Maya.
"I had to follow the way the younger Maya, played by Kis Aisha, spoke and this meant that I had to watch every scene she was in carefully."
BOLD DECISIONS
Sweet credits her days of studying and working at the same time for her boldness in taking up challenging roles.
In 2022, she graduated from Segi University in Petaling Jaya with a mass communications degree, after three years of working and studying.
"As soon as school was over, I went to the set of my drama, then attended my tuition before the day was done.
"Even during exams, I went to the set between papers," she said.
At university, Sweet attended classes for 10 hours before spending another 10 on the set.
"The Sunway Lagoon haunted house too had toughened me up — as a teenager I starred in its video and was chased by 'Friday The 13th' monster Jason Voorhees," she said.
'Babah' screens in cinemas nationwide today.