Celine TeohIf you think Fiona Fussi is just another pretty face, think again. She’s also a feisty fighter for female empowerment. The UrbanWire catches up with her after she’s returned from a recent work trip in Paris, France.
Claim to Fame
At just 24 years old, Fiona Fussi has established herself as one of the most distinguished models in Singapore.
Ever since winning the Elite Model Look competition in 2011, the head-turner has worked with prominent brands in the fashion industry like Chanel, Guess, L’Oréal Paris and Lancôme. She has walked the runways in cities like New York, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong, and has over 137,000 Instagram followers. In addition to modelling, she is also a musician and actress.
Growing Up
Fiona is born and raised in Singapore. Her father is from Austria; her mother is from Hong Kong.
“Because I grew up in Singapore, my personality, behaviour and traditions are more Asian.”
After graduating from United World College of South East Asia, Fiona started her full-time career in modelling. For three years, she was living abroad mainly as most of her gigs were held in fashion capitals like Paris and New York.
Acting Career
In 2018, Fiona was approached to star in Girl Band Called Girl Band, an online web series produced by Click Network. She jumped at the opportunity to play Tammy.
In 2019, she went on to take the lead role in Chinese short film, Under the Tree, which was produced by award-winning actress Joanne Peh.
She most recently starred in The Last Madame, a 12-part Toggle series. Her character, Chi-Ling, is a hard-hearted banker who returns to Singapore from Hong Kong to collect inheritance from her great grandmother.
Fiona says acting is certainly more “intensive and exhausting” compared to her modelling gigs. The filming of Last Madame, for example, took three months to complete. She had to report to work every day, spending up to 16 hours a day on set.
“Coming home every day, I didn’t know what to do first. Whether to have my dinner at midnight, take off my make-up, or remember my lines for the next day.”
However, Fiona is still passionate about acting. She likes being able to channel parts of herself through the characters she plays.
“As a person, I have a lot to say. I like to have a voice. I enjoy exploring different parts of my personality through different characters.”
No Tolerance 2020
Being in the limelight has its pros and cons. For Fiona, a nuisance that comes with fame is having to receive lewd messages and obscene images from strangers on social media.
Fiona says that in the past, she used to be afraid of speaking out on these issues. She was constantly questioning herself: What if I raise this topic and people don’t like it?
She has since decided to call out those who have harassed her on her Instagram page. Her motto for the year is “No Tolerance 2020”.
“Now, I don’t care. If I get really obscene, disgusting, sexual, degrading messages, or even dick pictures, I’m not afraid. I don’t even blur their names. They cannot expect that there will be no consequence.”
She advises women who face the same predicament to never hesitate to speak out against their predators.
“The number one thing that I feel so angry about is when girls feel like they did something wrong to deserve that kind of behaviour [from sexual predators].”
Female Empowerment
Speaking passionately on the topic of female empowerment, Fiona says there is definitely room for improvement when it comes to gender equality in Singapore.
She stresses that women should be each other’s allies, while men should also play a part in standing up for what’s right.
“We as women cannot take this quietly, we need to take our power and our voice back.”