My life has been blessed in many ways. I was born to the best parents in the world who have guided me and have opened many doors for me. My dad Jayant

Childhood

My life has been blessed in many ways. I was born to the best parents in the world who have guided me and have opened many doors for me. My dad Jayantha Jayatilaka was the director of the Film Location Services – and my mum, Indrani is a fashion designer for Hollywood films made in Sri Lanka. I had a carefree childhood spent doing the things I loved the most - on film sets watching actors and actresses dancing.

My mum put me straight to school at the age of three to Playgroup at the Colombo International School (CIS). It was there that my first opportunity in acting came about. Renuka Balasuriya and Somaratne Dissanayake, Producers and Co–Directors of the teledrama 'Iti Pahan' were looking for a child to play the role of Daisy Susan. I never really thought I would become an actress but there I was at the age of eight begging my parents to let me have the part.

From that point onwards there was no looking back because I was living my dream. Once I started acting I knew that I enjoyed it. Whatever I do I put my heart and soul into it. I am into making my dreams come true.


Wind beneath my wings

I was very lucky because my mum was supportive of whatever I did. She would always tell me that this is wrong and she would guide me. She really encouraged me to do whatever I wanted – art, dancing or acting – she was always behind me.

My mother is my guardian angel. She makes up for everything I don't have in my life. I am really fortunate because not many kids have the opportunity to have their mum with them all the time. As I am the only child that is my guilty pleasure – having my mum's attention all the time. She is like my bodyguard, my manager, my best friend, my everything…


Sugar, Spice and everything nice…

If I could describe myself I would say that – Anarkalli is a person who likes to smile, she likes babies, puppies, ice cream… she loves talking on the phone. The biggest and most important thing in my life is love – to love people and to also be able to give a message to people. That is why I became an actress.

I would say that my greatest strength is my perseverance but like any other human being I am not perfect. I have so many weaknesses and I am still learning. I try to recognise what I am doing. Every day I learn something about my self. In life you should never regret anything you do – you should learn from it and not let it occur if it's something bad.

People assume that being a celebrity is the easiest job in the world. But that is not true. I wake up early in the morning – I have to wear sari to work because I work as the Public Relations Officer to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera. If I am not shooting then I have to stay the whole day at work.

When I am shooting I have to get up at three in the morning and finish shooting at midnight – it is unbelievable. I am lucky that I have the most understanding boss in the world!

There are the photo shoots, interviews, replying fan mail, recording my album, there's being a daughter, a citizen… it's a lot but I love it because it keeps me going. I can never say on any particular day that I didn't do something today.


After a hard days work the only thing I want to do is relax. It is really an expensive thing to do but I talk on the phone. That is how I unwind. I am like an open book. I like to express myself because I want to know what's going on in me and how I feel. If something happens to me tomorrow or in the next second people can't say they didn't know
me. I also chill out by listening to music.

Heart and Soul

Every moment of my life has been great because I have always done it my way. I treasure moments and I have such a good memory. I can remember everything that has happened to me in my life. If you don't recognise each passing moment as great then you realise that the life you have been living is not great. If you think that then you go down and I would never let myself or anyone else go through that.

There are many things I am passionate about but the one thing that I am proud of is the fact that I am Sri Lankan. Bringing out the Sri Lankan in us is important to me.

I believe that every single Sri Lankan should be an ambassador of our country. We should create our own Sri Lankan identity. We need to be proud of where we come from and of who we are. We too should be that patriotic. We can go further in our lives if we do that. We are a small country but we can make a huge impact.

I am very controversial in many ways. A lot of people depict me in different ways. Something that might surprise a lot of people is the fact that I am tremendously forgiving.

My Inspiration

I admire many people in life because there is something about them that I can relate to and aim to be - Princess Diana because she never lost her human touch, Audrey Hepburn because of what she gave to cinema, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga because she was a Sri Lankan woman who looked after two kids while she was in power and Mahatma Gandhi – if you could have that kind of wisdom and confidence yet be so down to earth and walk with the masses and have such a big following – that is
quite an achievement.


Stars in my eyes

Many people will be surprised but the most challenging part of my career is not the late night shoots, the myriad of appointments I have to go for or never having a normal life where I can stay in bed all day if I wanted to. What I go through is quite tough but the most challenging part of it all is staying true to myself.

The funny thing about me is that there is so much I have yet to achieve. I want to be a good will ambassador to the UN. I want to work with children – children make me so happy.

I don't know if I was destined to be a celebrity. It was really easy for me to get into films because both my parents were in the film industry. I could have gotten into it way before I did but I didn't. I never thought that I would be an actress or a star. I acted in the teledrama Iti Pahan when I was eight. I enjoyed it but I didn't think that people wanted to see me again. I thought they must have liked me because I was a kid. I never expected to continue. I was just going to
school and doing my regular thing.

I also never imagined that I would achieve so much at such a young age. Acting at the age of eight, representing Sri Lanka at Miss World in 2004, being the youngest actress in the history of Sinhalese cinema to win the Most Popular Actress award and the being the Public Relations Officer (PRO) to the Foreign Ministry at the age of 19 are achievements that I am truly grateful for.