If you’re a fan of the Boys Love industry, then you know who GMMTV is. After their 2016 enemies-to-love story SOTUS, nearly every subsequent series the company has produced since has become a worldwide sensation, creating instant international superstars of their series leads. Drama after drama, the company has continued to catch lightning in the bottle, and their latest series, My School President, is proving to be the most electrifying of all.

A romantic musical comedy, it is the best of everything the company has ever produced. Well-written with great production and a truly outrageous soundtrack, one of the things that make My School President so wonderful to watch is the chemistry between the cast, especially the main couple, Norawit Titicharoenrak (Gemini) and Nattawat Jirochtikul (Fourth). It’s the first time either of the young actors is leading a series, but they’ve got the chops to become the next kings of the genre.

While filming not one, not two, but three different series, the actors took a breather to sit and chat about the series and how they’ve cultivated such a palpable chemistry.

“We have met in the Thailand School Star contest 2019,” Fourth states. “Since then, we have been close to one another. We have known each other for three years now, and we have had acting classes and training together.”

Nodding, Gemini continues where Fourth left off. “Throughout the three years, we have been in many activities together, like we’ve played football, sang with each other, and we’ve done a lot of things together with our friends who are in the series as well.”

“Yeah, it’s strengthening our relationship,” Fourth adds. “So, when we were in the scenes, it’s very easy to work together.”

“I think that makes our friendship stronger and also makes working and filming easier,” Gemini nods, again picking up where Fourth left off. It’s becoming very apparent very quickly that this is a common thread between the two. They’re in sync.

The Thailand School Star contest included fellow My School President cast members Ford Arun and Satang Kittiphop. While Arun’s character “Por” is close friends with Gun and Tinn, Kittiphop’s “Sound” is Tinn’s arch nemesis. Something the real-life competition of Thailand School Star helped the actors play off.

Watching them, I’m mentally mulling over what I know of their history with GMMTV:

The pair appeared in the 10th episode of the GMMTV monster-hit Bad Buddy in 2021, and Fourth had a support role as Glakao, the little brother to the main character Gorya (Tu Tontawan) in the wildly popular F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers, that same year. But besides a few guest appearances on some variety shows and the 4th season of GMMTV’s internet reality competition series Safe House, that’s it. The two young men literally, who are so professional and put together, are littler newbies who became global superstars overnight.

Again – lightning in a bottle.

But becoming so popular so fast, there’s bound to be some anxiety – especially when it comes to social media and how the fans view them, not just as actors but as individual people with real lives and interests. Fans can make or break not just a series but an entire career. While some celebrities, especially ones that are so young, seem to buckle under the stress, Gemini and Fourth have found strength not just in their friendship, but in the authenticity of who they are themselves.

“I’m myself when I’m posting to social media,” Fourth says matter-of-factly. “But, I’m also careful about what I’m saying because I don’t want to offend anyone.”

Nodding, Gemini takes another moment before he answers. “As I have the leading role in this series, I handle quite a lot of pressure,” he confesses. “But I feel like that didn’t change me at all,” he adds with a smile. “Like when I’m filming with Fourth, we’re just completely being natural and not forcing anything out. Because our friendship is quite strong, that makes the chemistry between us stronger.”

“I don’t feel much anxiety,” Fourth reveals. “But I feel that I have to be serious because I want this series to become a success, and I want many people to like it. I have worked and put a lot of effort into the series, especially when it comes to singing.”

“We are quite new in this business,” Gemini confesses calmly. “I don’t really have the experience of working in this area before. On the first day at the first scene to shoot, I didn’t quite know what to do or what the keywords were, but as I progressed, I feel like that improved on my acting skills and also my understanding of the business, so I don’t really feel that much anxiety, but I feel like it has improved me a lot as I progressed in this business.”

Taking a beat, it’s my turn to collect my thoughts. Again, I feel like I’m talking to seasoned professionals here. These kids have a better grasp of who they are at eighteen than most adults I know who are (at least) twice their age.

Smiling, I ask about My School President. Based on the novel My Boyfriend is the President by Pruesapha the series tells the story of Gun (Fourth) who’s got music in his blood and wants more than anything to win Hot Wave Music Awards, a real-life music competition that has produced some of the biggest band names in Thai music. Tinn (Gemini) is the School President who has always been in love with Gun but is too shy to tell him. But this is the year. However, Tinn’s plans get jumbled up when the principal, who’s also Tinn’s mother, tries to disband the music club, which will dash any hope Gun or the members of his band Chinzilla have of Hot Wave. But with the help of his best friend Tiwson (Mark Pakin) Tinn comes up with a plan that not only saves the music club, but also gives him the chance to work his way into Gun’s heart.

“I’ve read the novel before because I wanted to know the storyline,” Fourth starts when asked how they prepared for the roles. “P’AU and the screenwriter wrote this series to be more like a romantic comedy, which it isn’t in the novel – they are definitely different!” he laughs. “Before getting into the scenes, I focused on the dialogue,” he continues. “But, while filming, I just let myself be in the moment and let it come out naturally.”

“My experience is quite different from Fourth,” Gemini confesses. “I didn’t read the novel before. I just started doing the series without knowing anything,” he laughs. “But before going into the scene and also before doing the series, we had a lot of rehearsals.”

“We did workshop class together.” Fourth interjects with a nod.

“Not only me and Fourth, but also with other casts as well,” Gemini continues. “I rehearse quite a lot, but mostly I rely on natural instincts. I feel like sticking too much to the script does not make the character interesting. Putting my natural instincts in it will make the character pop and come to life! I also watched a lot of series. A lot of Korean dramas to study from that and to pick up some of the things that they do to apply to my character. Tinn is quite different from me,” he adds after a moment of thought. “I don’t really have the experience of being in a relationship before, so I had to study quite a lot of characters to decide how Tinn would behave towards Gun.”

While Gemini focused on acting, Fourth had music on the mind. “There are 14 songs in the series that I had to sing, so I needed to focus on singing. I worked hard on it.”

Gemini nods in agreement, and if you’ve seen the series or listened to any of the OST songs released, Fourth’s work has paid off.

Though Tinn might not have as many songs in the series as Gun, Gemini has one of the most interesting voices on the series – with an incredible range. When he speaks naturally, his voice is quite deep, but when he sings – he can step into a head voice that I can only describe as something like I would imagine Mariah Carey would have if she was a man. He’s got a gorgeous voice.

When it comes to their favorites songs, neither one of the guys has to think too hard about their answer. “I like the song in EP12, the last Episode,” Fourth says. It’s called “Gonhin Kub Duangdao” (ก้อนหินกับดวงดาว – Rock and the Star).”

And when it comes to the songs Gemini has recorded? “Pleng Rak” (เพลงรัก – Love Song),” He answers again without a moment’s hesitation.

“I like “Pleng Rak” (เพลงรัก – Love Song) as well because it’s my song!” Gemini laughs. “I also like also like Fourth’s “Gonhin Kub Duangdao” (ก้อนหินกับดวงดาว – Rock and the Star) but other than that, I like “Eek Nid” (อีกนิด – Come Closer).”

“Come Closer” is one of the songs sung by Ford Arun. A mid-tempo ballad, the song is featured in a pivotal moment for the characters early on in the series. Fourth nods in quick agreement, “Yeah! “Come Closer” is very good!”

Regarding My School President and the series as a whole, both were hopeful it would be successful, but it’s clear neither one of them thought it would reach the level of popularity it’s currently enjoying – especially with international fans.

“I am really surprised that many international fans like our series and I feel very happy to hear that!” Fourth states, smiling from ear to ear.

Gemini contemplates for a moment. “Well, I expected that the series would go well, but I didn’t think that it would go this far to have many fan bases in different countries, not only in Thailand but also internationally,” he says softly. “So, thanks a lot for your support. We’ll try to do our best in every possible way to make you guys Happy.”

Before My School President comes to an end, Gemini and Fourth appear in Moonlight Chicken, another BL drama that stars one of GMMTV’s most popular ships, EarthMix.

“I feel so lucky working with senior actors like P’ Earth and P’ Mix in Moonlight Chicken and also many other senior actors,” Fourth says with sincere adoration. “I’ve gained new experience and have adapted them to my other series.”

“I definitely received some advice from many of my senior actors not only from the series that I played in with them, like P’ Earth, P’ Mix or P’ First, P’ Khaotung” Gemini says of their Moonlight Chicken costars, but he also credits other GMMTV actors like Tay Tawan, New Thitiphoom, and Perth Tanapon. “They had a lot of experience of doing the acting and they’ve been in this business for a longer time than me and Fourth. They’re kind of told me that it is not hard to be an actor. It’s not easy as it seems though either. It can get very tiring filming a series from 5:00 AM until midnight. But, we not only have to work for ourselves, but we have to work for other people as well because the team that are doing the series are tired as well, and they put a lot of effort in the series that we are the main actors for it. So, I feel like it’s not only us that are tired but it’s them as well. So, we have to work hard to match their efforts that they put into this series and also for the fan clubs as well. We just have to work to give back for their loves and their support for us.”

With all the international buzz surrounding both My School President and Moonlight Chicken the guys are excited about what their future and what roles may be in store for them. “I want to play Spiderman!” Gemini laughs loudly. “It’s not true,” he continues, still chuckling. “But I feel like it would be fun playing that character because Peter Parker has to hide himself and secretly be Spiderman, so I feel like it’s quite interesting, but a genre that I do want to work in would be action and survival.”

“In My School President, Gemini is the one who starts flirting with me so if I can, I want to be the one who starts flirting with Gemini!” Fourth giggles. “I want to know how it feels to be the one who starts flirting. I also want to get a role as a gangster in high school and I would love to be in a romantic movie.”

In addition to Moonlight Chicken the pair will also star in two upcoming series from GMMTV Our Skyy 2 and 23.5 – GMMTV’s first full-fledged Girls Love drama starring Milk Pansa and Love Pattranite. I can’t wait to see where these two young men go in their careers…

This article is adapted from Life in Cartoon Motion which aims at providing articles, reviews, and even interviews!