At the Autumn/Winter 2026 shows during Paris Fashion Week, something unusual happened at the front rows. The most‑watched presence was not a heritage house’s muse or a Hollywood name making their European debut.
It was “Orm” Kornnaphat Sethratanapong—Thai actress, Girls’ Love (GL) series phenom, and, by any measurable metric, one of the most powerful young women in entertainment right now. Across the week, she and Sirilak “Lingling” Kwong, her frequent on‑screen partner, reportedly generated nearly US$37 million (about S$47 million) in earned media value, topping engagement rankings across the industry.
Orm received the news the way she receives most things: with apparent calm, and a touch of quiet disbelief. “I was really surprised,” she says. “I’ve never seen such a huge and loyal fan base before. I’m truly grateful to everyone—the fans, the staff and all of our colleagues.” This grounded perspective is even more striking when considering that Orm never planned for any of this.
You see, her entry into the entertainment industry happened without design. Although her mother is the veteran Thai actress Naruemon Pongsupap, following in her footsteps had never been in the plans for the 24‑year‑old, who is quick to clarify that the industry was never a defining backdrop to her childhood.
As the economics major from Srinakharinwirot University puts it: “I hardly ever accompanied her to work on set; her career didn’t really influence me.” Instead, her trajectory developed serendipitously, kick‑started by an appearance in an airline commercial—an audition she took as a teenager only as a side quest and at her mum’s suggestion while reconfiguring her university life.
That stint caught the eye of a drama producer, leading to an audition invitation where she successfully secured her debut role in the 2019 youth drama Hotel Stars. Her true breakthrough came five years later via the 2024 series The Secret of Us—Thailand’s Channel 3’s first venture into the GL genre.
Playing the free‑spirited Earn, Orm—alongside Lingling as her on‑screen love interest—became the face of what was not just a regional milestone for the network but also a massive crossover hit. Upon its debut, the series entered Netflix’s Top 10 across multiple countries, birthing an international fan base whose fierce devotion still visibly surprises her.
Without formal performing arts training or a calculated corporate trajectory, Orm’s current global influence is clearly born not from a grand lifelong ambition, but from an organic, authentic connection with her audience. At the heart of that frenetic mania is the “LingOrm” partnership, which has evolved into one of the most closely watched GL ships in the region. Following their 2024 debut, the duo reunited for the 2025 series Only You and appear together again this year in their third GL project, In Love Forever, which premieres its first episode this June.
While fans analyse the pair’s chemistry with near‑academic intensity, Orm remains endearingly humble about their appeal. “I’m not sure what makes our chemistry work so well,” she says with a laugh. “But I feel like we’re both sincere with each other and we both focus on doing our jobs well. Most importantly, we’re partners who genuinely care about each other very much.”
She does not attempt to intellectualise it beyond that—for her, there is no hidden technique behind their connection; it is simply one built on trust and mutual care. This innate sincerity is not merely a recipe for on‑screen chemistry; it is the defining characteristic of both Orm and her approach to her chosen path.
Her authenticity is not a persona—it is an anchor. Ask her what her GL roles might mean beyond the ratings and fandom, and she answers with neither hesitation nor performance. “I feel that my roles may help many people normalise and better understand the [reality] of women loving women,” she says.
“[They] may also help people realise that love has nothing to do with gender—it’s simply about two people loving, caring for and being there for each other unconditionally, regardless of gender.” It is the kind of statement that, coming from anyone else, could easily sound like calculated PR. From Orm, it lands as something more straightforward: a considered view she simply holds—and has always held. For her, a role is never just a role; it is a small contribution to how society understands itself.
Behind that acute awareness of her potential impact lies a remarkably pragmatic mind. Navigating her early acting roles while remaining committed to her economics studies, Orm maintained a loose plan to eventually contribute to her family’s frozen food manufacturing business.
Even as her path shifted, her decisions have followed a consistent thread of purpose and curiosity. Driven by a desire to look past her own performances, Orm enrolled in a master’s degree in film and digital media at her alma mater to fully grasp the inner workings of her industry.
As she explains: “I feel like I’ve already done a lot of on‑screen work, so I wanted to learn more about the behind‑the‑scenes side of the entertainment industry—the processes and production methods.” Whether that eventually leads to directing or producing, she does not say. The interest, however, is clearly genuine.
Maintaining that pursuit alongside an acting career—plus the constant travel for fashion front rows, campaign shoots, and events—might look daunting on paper, but Orm insists otherwise. She credits her mother for helping her organise her schedule; the rest, she suggests, comes down to making use of whatever hours are available—even, at times, the ones after midnight.
“Even after full days on set, I’d still spend the night doing homework or working on projects,” she says matter‑of‑factly, insisting that the gruelling routine is not tiring. In many ways, that feels quintessentially Orm: someone who works intensely behind the scenes, gives herself fully to whatever she commits to and rarely makes a spectacle of the effort it takes. This quiet constancy explains why her meteoric rise has not disrupted who she is at her core.
When asked whether the immense scale of her celebrity has changed her, Orm is quick to answer. “From the very first day until today, I still feel like I’m the same person,” she says. “Nothing has really changed. The people around me are still the same and still love me the same way.”
Growth, for her, has been less about transformation and more about accumulation—more experiences, more perspective, a greater sense of intention about how she moves through her life. It is an entirely genuine outlook, and one she embodies completely. This, in the end, remains the most compelling truth about Orm Kornnaphat: her sincerity. Quiet, consistent and unforced, it runs through everything she does—the anchor that allows her to keep moving forward on her own terms.
Photography Zhou Chuan
Creative direction and styling Kelly Hsu
Hair Sarawut Lapa
Makeup Surapre Achirakul
Producer Nanthachaphon Pitupan
Set designer Yukon Boonprasart
Photograpby assistants Thanakit Meecharoen, Manit Jampa, Thanakorn Kantaponthanat
Fashion assistant Poonsiri Sanubol