I sat down with Indonesian actor and former national judoka Joe Taslim to talk about The Furious, the martial arts thriller from director Kenji Tanigaki in which he plays a journalist pulled into a desperate rescue. For two days of press, almost everyone had asked Joe about the fighting. What struck me was how fast…
I sat down with Indonesian actor and former national judoka Joe Taslim to talk about The Furious, the martial arts thriller from director Kenji Tanigaki in which he plays a journalist pulled into a desperate rescue. For two days of press, almost everyone had asked Joe about the fighting. What struck me was how fast he lit up the moment the conversation turned to the things he rarely gets asked about: the guitar, his late father, the small life he still pictures for himself. He was generous and funny and openly surprised, and at the end he told me he was never expecting any of it.
McAuley Tucker: You love music and you actually know how to play the guitar. Did you ever pick up your guitar between takes and play KKEB by Andre Hehanussa between takes?
Joe Taslim: Yeah. How do you know? That’s the song that I love to play. That’s an Indonesian song. How? How did you know about that?
McAuley Tucker: You’re Joe. We have to know.
Joe Taslim: If I travel somewhere shooting in a different city, I always bring my toys. Sometimes a keyboard, sometimes a music controller, sometimes a guitar… Sometimes I just go to the music store and buy my toys, the guitar, or maybe a small version of keyboard for me to play during my off shooting. And then by the end of the shooting usually I just give it away to crew. Your daughter love music? This is a guitar; the son love music, want to play piano, this is the keyboard. So that’s what I do.
McAuley Tucker: Was there a question or a topic that you wish interviewers like myself asked you but they never do? Because from what I’m seeing, everyone asks you about fighting and action. Almost nobody asks you about the kid from Palembang who taught himself a love song on a guitar.
Joe Taslim: You’re right. You’re the first. I think I would love people to talk about more about the character. I believe action compliments story compliments the character. And then I love people when people ask me about… what makes this character devoting his life to save those kids. So for me those are more interesting questions. Maybe because people, for two days, just don’t stop talking about all these physicalities, all the choreographies and all those stuff. But it’s good that some of them ask quite deep questions about the character.
McAuley Tucker: In passing, you’ve said before that one day you hope to own a little place in Palembang, that serves only coffee and pempek. Do you think you’ll ever pursue that aspiration of starting this business?
Joe Taslim: Well, I can’t move that much anymore. My dream is just to, it’s very simple. I want to retire and then run a business. Maybe a small coffee shop or a small bar. I don’t know, because now I love to DJ… I want to go to a place that I love, good energy, and open like a coffee or a bar place, and play music and then put a lot of instruments there and people can come and play music there. And on the weekend, I mix music there, I DJ there or I play piano there. So for me that’s how I imagine my old life would be… I never imagine myself in a life that I cannot afford or is too much for me. It’s always like simple.
McAuley Tucker: Let’s talk about your father. I know he, unfortunately, passed away. What was something that you took away from him, a lesson that really impacted and benefited you?
Joe Taslim: Well, he didn’t inherit me in terms of possession, assets, or money, whatever, because I grew up in a very limited situation. But I’m very grateful to had him as a dad because he gave me so much life lessons. He taught me about discipline. He taught me about being brave… I remember one time I think it was a competition I fought when I was 14 in a wushu competition. It’s almost like boxing, and I fought someone way older than me and I was afraid. That fight, first round, I kept moving backward because I was afraid. And then my father on the bench, he said like, what are you doing? Don’t be afraid. You got to be brave. If you’re brave and you die on that ring, I would still be proud of you. But never be afraid of doing something.
Consider watching The Furious Today.