You would think that Nadhir Nasar was born to be in front of the camera, with every photo capturing his boyish charm and sharp features. And you would be right, because the 27-year-old has made most of his living being in photos, TV series, and movies. This Michigan-born talent had modelled since he was 19 before branching out into films. But before his modelling and acting days, Nadhir had also plied his trade behind the camera which, like the circle of life, he plans to return to someday, and that’s being a director.
“Will I reach that goal within the year or decade? I don’t know. I’m just letting things flow organically.” This is just Nadhir being modest, as he’s already established his own production house and was even a finalist for the BMW Shorties 2022 thanks to his short film Villa Rosly. “But at the moment, my time as an actor helps build the skills I need to become a good director. Telling people what to do on set is one thing. But the individual actors themselves also play a role in realising the entire project, which is why I’m grateful I get to grow this way.”
Always being grateful is a big theme of Nadhir’s. Good or bad, Nadhir takes the circumstances given to him in stride. And when it comes to being on set, it’s hard not to notice how he speaks to everyone in attendance, making them feel special.
“Be it a photoshoot or movie set, every project is a team effort,” he says. “Each person has a role to play. And in the absence of any one person, the final product wouldn’t exist.” It’s an ode to the unsung heroes, as his sharp features wouldn’t pop without the help of a make-up artist, and the pictures themselves would lack that little oomph had the lighting guy not been in attendance.
Outfit by Dior; Meisterstück shopping bag mini and Iced Sea Automatic Date by MONTBLANC
The unsung hero bit isn’t a foreign concept to Nadhir, as he used to be the sound guy on set, another important role that’s easily overlooked. “When you work your way up the ranks, you tend to appreciate the people around you. And that’s where you learn the importance of teamwork,” he adds.
Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that he’s a team player. But befriending everybody on set must be tiring, especially since Nadhir is a self-professed introvert. So what drives him to remain social despite his innate desire to stay at home and curl up with a good book? His answer: kindness is timeless.
“Of course, nobody remains relevant forever. I don’t want to rely on my wave of success to be known. In fact, I want to do my best when I still have a platform. I want to share my work. My vision. My positivity. And if that means spending energy to make people feel better, I’ll do it.”
Outfit by Sandro; Iced Sea Automatic Date and Meisterstück 149 Fountain Pen by MONTBLANC
Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight
My suspicion is that it hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows for him, though, and Nadhir is quick to admit that too. Predating his success is the string of rejections he’d faced prior to winning a reality TV audition series called Hero Remaja. Nadhir says he stopped counting how many times he was turned down after the tenth time. “I used to cry in the car after auditions. Because imagine this: You put yourself out there, you give it all you got, then you get rejected in front of 250 people. It’s not exactly the easiest thing to deal with.”
Life threw him curveballs, and still Nadhir kept swinging. But if you’re looking for a nugget of wisdom, then you’re fresh out of luck. Because according to Nadhir, there wasn’t a secret hack or technique. He just simply kept going. “If you ask me, I have no idea how I managed to bounce back each time. I just did it. Every rejection was painful. Plus, I already had a way of making a living behind the camera, so I could’ve stopped at any time. But I kept trying.”
You’d think someone would quit after the tenth rejection, but Nadhir had another motivating force: the words “what if”. What if he was on the precipice of success, and he quit right before arriving? After all, the only guarantee came from quitting.
Never give up. That’s what he kept telling himself. But that didn’t mean he never thought of quitting. Right before his auditions for Hero Remaja, Nadhir told himself he’d go back to being behind the camera should he fail once more. Just one more try. Thankfully, he did, as this was the attempt that would propel him to stardom. It’s been success after success since. Success, in this case, being his appearances in shows such as Projek: High Council and Pendekar Awang: Darah Indera Gajah, among many others.
“Know that just because I had to go through so many rejections doesn’t mean that every aspiring actor has to do the same,” he says. “Everybody has their own path to take. I know many successful artists who’ve been fortunate from the get-go, so it’s not to say there’s one set path to achieving your dreams.”
How Nadhir has navigated his challenges is now a timely reminder for each and every one of us. A reminder that we all have our unique circumstances to overcome. And just like how everybody has a different path to take, we also have a different approach to our craft of choice.
Much like acting. Some actors see it as a vocation. And while Nadhir appreciates the creative side of it, he also sees it as a service to others. “I’ve had fans tell me that they enjoy watching my work, and that they look forward to watching the shows I’m in after a particularly long day. I like the fact that viewers are entertained or moved by the work I put out. And while art can be done for your own satisfaction, it’s also something that can be done for others. Because human beings don’t live on their own. We all need each other, and this is my way of giving back.”
School Doesn’t Define You
You may or may not have found school to be challenging. And you may or may not have let your report card determine who you were. For Nadhir, he went through the typical experience that’s plagued many other budding creatives, and that’s the lack of interest in the default syllabus. But what set him apart was that he didn’t see his lacklustre test results as a judge of his character.
“Drive wasn’t a problem. I always had that. But the subjects in school didn’t really interest me. School is still important, and I did learn respect and discipline, but I never let others define me, so doing bad at school didn’t bother me much. Plus, I always had a vision of what I wanted to do since I was much younger. So I knew that I still had a path to pursue ahead of me.” He went on to graduate in Mass Communications. Another thing: Nadhir had another driving force behind his ambitions: the unwavering support of his parents.
“Me not doing well in exams was one thing. I was lucky that my father never once forced me to study a subject I didn’t want. And he used to encourage me with many sayings that he’d repeat over and over,” he says.
“Crazy thing is that those sayings are how I live my life today. One example is ‘If you want to be a fisherman, be the fisherman with three boats. If you want to be a farmer, be the one with three acres of land.’ It’s a rough translation, but the message rings true: it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you strive to do it to the best of your abilities. And that’s exactly what I’m doing now.”
I am convinced that Nadhir does everything to the best of his abilities. But surely, he picks and chooses his battles? He can’t be everywhere at once, after all. “That’s true,” he says, “there are certain roles that other people are more suited for, roles that I can’t do justice. And if there’s a hard ceiling like that, I might as well leave it to the more appropriate talents. For instance, I can’t play the role of a father as I don’t have kids. I can brute-force my way through the role, but it wouldn’t be my hundred per cent.”
Don’t Let Your Dreams Die
Burn the boats. Go for broke. Never give up. It’s easy to assign a platitude to Nadhir and paint him as a beacon of perseverance. A role model for chasing your dreams at all costs. But he doesn’t look at himself that way. And he believes there are larger things at play too.
“For example, it’s okay if your goals change, but if a certain dream still burns in your chest, then you must never, ever stop. Because if it wasn’t meant for you, you wouldn’t even be thinking about it in the first place. God has a way of giving you exactly what you need to reach your goals, be it in the form of encouragement or challenges.”
You would think there’s a right or wrong way to approach art, but there isn’t. So according to Nadhir, if your dreams lie in the creative realm, you should remind yourself to keep doing the work.
“Now and again, people will use the fear of making bad things as an excuse not to create,” Nadhir says. “But you have to understand that at any point in time, the art you’re making is to the best of your abilities. If you could do better, you would. So each piece is a snapshot of your capabilities at the moment. That’s why you should focus on the creation and not about whether something is good or not.”
And Nadhir knows a thing or two about creating, because he doesn’t just stick to the visual arts. He’s a fan of the written word too. “I love writing poetry. And I love words because two people can read the same novel and come up with totally different interpretations.”
For Nadhir, it’s not just the medium. It’s the intent. If you were to pigeonhole him, a challenge in and of its own, it’d be under the category of “storyteller”. Where that is concerned, Nadhir has a wealth of ideas just waiting to be told.
“Ever since I came across the late Yasmin Ahmad’s work, I’ve been inspired. I like Quentin Tarantino’s work too, but it’s Yasmin that stirs the emotions in me.
“And I’d love to tell similar stories that touch on what our country has to offer. We are a wealth of cultures and traditions. Even when it comes to something small like martial arts alone, every culture has its own style, with a long line of history behind each one. So I hope to one day put out more Malaysian stories into the world.” He pauses for a second, then he adds: “Also, I love horror.”
Ever the storyteller, Nadhir shares how he comes up with his horror ideas. “I keep a notebook by my bed, and every time I have a nightmare, I write it down right after I wake up.”
It’s this juxtaposition between interests that makes Nadhir who he is. It’s his uniqueness that reminds us that we all have our own paths to take. And perhaps it’s through his love of storytelling that we’re now reminded not to let our dreams die.
. WORDS Stuart Danker PHOTOGRAPHY Chuan Looi / Yipieyaya Studio VIDEOGRAPHY Jia Jun Por STYLING Colin Sim MAKE-UP Rachel / Plika Makeup HAIR Keith Ong .
