Exclusive, Giulio Parengkuan Enjoys the Love and Hate of Acting

Giulio Parengkuan (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

JAKARTA - Actor Giulio Parengkuan stars alongside Taskya Namya and Wafda Saifan Lubis in his latest horror film 'Di Ambang Kematian'. On one occasion, Giulio tried to tell the story of Bastala, the character he plays in this film, where he will accompany Nadia (Taskya Namya) in facing the problems she faces.

For Giulio, the role of Bastala has a new color from the characters he has previously played. Therefore, Giulio admitted that this was a challenge for him to find the right dynamics for the character he played. This made Giulio have to discuss a lot with the director, Azhar Kinoi Lubis.

"Yes. Because that's what I finally discussed with Mr. Kinoi, what color do you want? What does it look like? That for example there are people who help, that not all people we just meet on the street, who we don't know, are all bad. But how do you do the dynamics, what kind of dynamics do you want to introduce to this character? Moreover, of course, in the scope of what is presented, in this death, at that time it was told in high school," said Giulio Parengkuan in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, last September 4.

Even though he had his own challenges in playing the character Bastala, Giulio also said that he was very interested in his character. This is because it can show that not everyone who comes into our lives always has their own intentions and that friendship between men and women is something that is commonplace.

Giulio Parengkuan (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

"So actually what makes me interested in this character is because of that, that not everyone we don't know is evil, that's what I mean. But in the end, how can he understand even though he has limitations in the form of mental space, because he is quite mentally disturbed, but actually he can have ideal friends, you know, that means that even friends can get to that point and that for me is very interesting," Giulio continued.

"Especially in the space, for example, in the world that we have, for example with the cultural space that we have, in Indonesia to show ideal friendship like that and that women and men can be friends and they can have good relationships and that is the most interesting thing," he said.

Always giving his best in every character he plays, Giulio apparently has his own way of choosing film projects. He said it all depends on the conditions of the moment and what challenges he wants to experience when playing the character given to him. Because for Giulio choosing a character in the film will have a big impact on his personal space in the real world, so he doesn't want to choose a character that is too easy or excessive.

"It depends on what moment I feel and what kind of situation does it depend on in the moment that I am offered? What kind of situation am I in? And when, for example, I want something that is challenging for me, I'll take the challenging part. But maybe the main thing is that when you want to take it, maybe you can see the character, maybe. Is there anything that can be tinkered with about the character, what I mean is that again it coincides, is it attached to personal space and our personal space is always changing, for example, like 2 years ago I couldn't possibly think in the way I do now," he added.

Giulio Parengkuan (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

"Well, so it depends on what kind of challenge I want and in the end it's a good challenge, right, a challenge, one that is not excessive because when we are given an excessive challenge, in the end we don't want to do it, but we don't want things to be too easy either, because in the end if it's too easy, we end up being lazy," he said.

Having already played in the action and horror genres, Giulio wanted to try spreading his wings by trying other genres, which turned out to be the main reason he entered the world of acting. The comedy genre has been one of Guilio's long-standing desires to play. However, unfortunately until now Giulio has not received an offer in this genre, even though Guilio feels he is funny enough to play that genre.

"Comedy. For sure. I want comedy, I want the comments to be funny, yes, comedy is rare here, so it's interesting, yes it's comedy," he said.

"Maybe it's only been a few touches so far, but I've never tried to really experience something truly comedic. Because actually, the first time I played, when I entered the world of acting, I initially wanted to do comedy, but I had never done comedy. Surprisingly, maybe people don't know, but finally I got this drama and others, but I really wanted to try that comedy from the start. That's why I want to do acting from the first place. Because Jim Carrey," he explained.

“Little bit narcissistic, yes. But I mean like yes. Maybe for certain people I guess? It depends on where this room is, but sometimes I'm pretty funny," he joked.

A Love and Hate Relationship with the World of Acting

Giulio Parengkuan (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

Starting his career around 2016 until now, Giulio admits that he never feels bored at all with the world of acting. In fact, he increasingly feels that he is falling in love with the world of acting that he is currently pursuing. Even the man born in 1999 feels that acting is what made him who he is today because here he can learn about dedication and emotional spaces.

"I'm interested in the world of acting, yes I fell in love with acting from the first time, but it's not there, but maybe in general I want to see new colors for cinema as a whole, new genres, maybe things that we've never played before, I think that would be refreshing to get out of the typical stereo character, it doesn't have to be for example rich and poor, or social dynamics, there's a lot out there, I mean I want to try new things, which maybe it has never been explored as a general," he said.

“But I love it since day one, I can be who I am now because of acting too. It taught me to be dedicated to how to understand the emotional spaces we have and how to make our days come from a feeling of being close to them," he continued.

Even so, Giulio Parengkuan's great love for the world of acting once led him to a quite dangerous incident. He said that because he was too immersed in his role in the first season of the series 'Pertarungan' when he first entered the world of acting, Giulio did not return to himself. This finally made this curly-haired man take a moment to rest while looking for his true identity again.

Even though it sounds quite scary, for Giulio this incident actually became a time for him to get to know himself better. He also felt that what happened to him was something interesting to explore and at the same time served as a reminder for an actor to have a strong grip on their identity.

"I've been carried away by the character in a series of fighting films, season 1. That was the first time, it lasted 3 months (being carried away by the character). But because when I first got into acting, I didn't understand, from the beginning, people said I was a crazy character, how could I be someone else like that. Over time, I also became interested in philosophy and psychology. Well, that was my approach to the procedure in character and eventually it got to a point where there was no one shot of the fight so I couldn't go back to him," said Giulio.

Giulio Parengkuan (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

“So I came to the point that, if for example I couldn't come back, I thought it would mean that Giulio was the original theoretical character rather than this generally tough character. Well, from there it finally closed to Breakout, I went on a trip to meet my grandmother, how about traveling to get to know myself and that's to get to know myself, inside and out. We start from where and we can come back again, meaning by going home to ourselves in the story, playing other characters," he added.

"From there, that's why we have to have a strong grip on our identity. How can we accept ourselves? What we mean is that we don't accept ourselves, we just know what we are like. So we can also know apart from our blind spots, what we are like," he continued.

Giulio further explained that this incident should have become a 'normal' occurrence among actors. Because this is very close to the profession he is currently carrying out. Therefore, he tried to consider this as a lesson that he had to learn from himself.

Giulio Parengkuan (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

“Yeah, it's not bad (it's the hardest time). But now that I'm close to it and an open guy, there's no fear, maybe I haven't. In fact, it's more something like that, but yes, it's a decent amount of time, it's not annoying, that's the only thing I'm afraid of. Then the time finally appeared that I finally couldn't return to myself for those 3 months. I think it has to be like that first, so that it gets knocked out. Everyone I mean, everyone learns differently. Maybe we have to knock first," he explained.

This experience was not an obstacle for Giulio to continue working in the world of acting. In fact, he admitted that he wanted to continue working, but in a different way, namely playing behind the scenes in films. He admitted that working behind the scenes, or making his own film, was one of the bucket lists he had dreamed of for a long time. This man of Minahasan descent deliberately did this as a form of self-development.

"Oh yes. That's on my bucket list, want to move behind the scenes, I don't know. Not maybe it's still a long time ago, meaning I love acting. And it's a never ending thing. It's the best job in the world. It's just that I'm also doing new things. We have to keep growing in the future, right? Every human being is trying different things, the positive things, from there, trying different things which one works for you and in the end, I don't think I can stop doing acting because it's part of me because of in the end, I was able to become like this because of acting itself," he concluded.