A chat with - Actress & Streamer Su "Zero" Htat

A rising-star actress by day, a popular streamer by night, the 25-year old Su Htat Htat is a hardworking ball of joy, her laughter infecting me with smiles as I sat through an interview with her. 

Half-film, Half-digital - Full Starpower

She tells me that it has been her childhood dream to be a part of the movie industry, specifically an actress. Her rose to local videogame-streamer fame started out when started playing games again to
de-stress. Whenever she played with her friends, she would get encouraged to by her friends to stream. A little bit reluctant initially, her passion as an entertainer and her innate passion for gaming showed
itself when she decided to pick up streaming. 

Su Htat Htat shot up in fame, quickly gathering a strong legion of both female and male fans for her amiable personality and some actual skills in playing the video games, the latter serving to further
strengthen her legitimacy as a videogame personality.

Since then, she had advanced through both her career. Su Htat is soon to star in two more movies - one by the much-lauded new generation director Htoo Paing Zaw Oo called "Yangon In Love". Another
director is also acclaimed locally, even snagging awards at international film festivals. Perhaps it isn't surprising of her rather quick leap where many others take years upon years to achieve, is due to her
hard work. 

When questioned whether her acting day-job and night-job of streaming is interferring with one another, she beamed at me and said "Some people are skeptical that I am working on two similar but
differently natured jobs but I intend to grind myself on both acting and streaming."

"Streaming is picking up pace here. There are now many streamers and while it is still beginning, people are starting to realize that streaming can be a legitimate career choice. The gaming industry as a
whole has been developing strongly here with many local gaming hubs as well as Esports tournaments and the rise of co-dependent tertiary businesses. There are now also the involvement of international
organizations in Myanmar with some orgs that are not even in Myanmar scouting local talents for the international scene," said Su Htat.

She says that she wishes it will grow much more to accomodate to the burgeoning demographic of streamers and their audience that isn't strictly exclusing to Esports-type gaming by having more and
more marketing agencies, telecom companies, energy drink businesses and more recognizing what streamers can bring to the table. 

Bulwark against the hate, Beacon for hope

To many, Su Htat embodies many things. She is neither exclusive to streaming nor acting. She isn't doing one for the sake of another but is legitimately running both time-consuming profession types. She
is also an icon of progress for many local female gamers. While she do not make such lofty claims, it is of the author's view that she not only represent the minority within a minority group but also break
aways from the stereotype of "girls cannot play games" (competently).

However, that does not stop the influx of playfully mean to downright hateful comments that she receive on a daily basis. But again, she smiles wide and tells me that "One of the main issues when it comes to streaming is cyberbullying. Streamers are constantly getting harassed and bashed on their own streams. Other streamers, myself included, have all come victim to it. And majority of viewers tend to have a lop-sided opinion especially when it comes to female streamers. I understand that with strong passion come strong emotions but I wish people understood better that we are all a community. Whether male or female, we all enjoy playing games and hanging out together. I love talking and playing together with my fans!"

When asked what her immediate goals for the future were, she says that she will keep on doing what she always have done: try her best at everything she wants to do. As for her acting career, there are several other projects that will be announced very soon as well as daily streams of her favourite games: Counter Strike Global Offensive (CSGO) and Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG).