Exclusive, Hannah Al Rashid Returns To Improving Her Acting Quality In Horror Movies

JAKARTA - Hannah Al Rashid returns to acting in her latest film, Marni: The Story of Wewe Gombel. As an actress who often stars in action and horror projects, she is enthusiastic about playing both genres in this film.

In the film Marni, Hannah plays Rahayu, a single parent who has two children and decides to move to a village to start a new life. However, from there Rahayu's problems only increased.

The actress, who was born on January 25, explained that her meeting with director Billy Christian finally came to a conclusion. Since 2011, they have always discussed many things regarding film projects, but have never been reunited until this year.

“The destiny is here. 10 more years later. Billy Christian is a director who I am curious about his work and really want to collaborate with. His expertise in horror is something very interesting because after getting to know him and chatting, he has a closeness to things like this so it feels like he is the right person to explore themes like this" said Hannah Al Rashid to VOI that afternoon.

Long discussions made her really enjoy this production process. Hannah also felt that Billy's closeness to the supernatural made the shooting experience full of surprises.

"For example, when he found out that in this room there was energy that matched the energy needed for Rahayu, he put it together and made this place into Rahayu's room so that the energy would be together. And I just found out now," she continued.

"So outside of discussions in real life with the actors, he thought of things like that and I have to thank him because the shooting location he chose had quite a different climate and was very supportive so I don't know if people will see the performance, whether it's me or ghost? Hahahaha. If it's good, then it's a ghost," said Hannah, laughing.

Acting since 2012, Hannah Al Rashid has starred in various films and series. Some of them are in the horror genre, such as V/H/S/2 (2013), Jailangkung (2017), Jailangkung 2 (2018), and Dreadout and Ratu Ilmu Hitam in 2019.

"Whatever the genre, I always return to the story, return to the script and return to the character offered," she answered when asked about choosing an acting project.

“I want to continue learning. So if the character doesn't offer something to learn from, I don't take it. Incidentally, Rahayu's character is something new for me, yes I have played a young mother before but this context is very different. A single mom, having a child with special needs, having a teenage child, being left by her husband, lots of problems, it's all kinds of things so there are lots of layers that can be played," she explained about the new character.

Apart from that, Hannah is also interested in acting in films that focus on female characters (female centric). According to her, women have a long history, especially with horror films. However, she sees Marni's film as a horror film that is different in its depiction of female characters.

“I think it sounds very strange, but it's like we are humanizing Wewe. What this means is, if we are feared and isolated, of course yes, but at least we understand why Wewe exist and often because of human actions. The cause and effect are what are really explored. Evil is just evil, sometimes we need to understand why people can be evil, right? What happened to them? We become critical humans who think more broadly, what is offered becomes interesting," said Hannah.

“Marni's character is tough, so if she wants to come and scare people, I understand! That's how it is in real life, there are good ghosts, there are bad ghosts. This means that we live around hundreds of entities that we cannot see, not necessarily all of which are evil. And somehow we have to learn to co-exist with things like that," she said.

Enjoying All Genre

Having a career in various mediums has made the 38 year old actress feel that it is not difficult to do various genres. She emphasized that the two genres that drain the most energy are the action and horror genres. Interestingly, the two genres are combined in the film Marni: The Story of Wewe Gombel.

"When it comes to work, you definitely want to approach it the same regardless of the genre, with the same output and effort, but there are things that differentiate between genres. Two very technical genres, action requires learning choreography, how to fall, reactions, learning to use weapons, for example. Very technical. That's horror. The horror at the base of the story is much more intense so whether it's running or screaming, crying, it requires much more energy than sitting," explained Hannah.

"I felt really helped by the other cast when I returned to the base camp tent and the energy was happy, here all my energy was taken. Indeed, the way of working is always different and must be adapted per genre, but the effort and enthusiasm should be the same in every film. The reality is that sometimes there are directors who are hands-off and don't embrace it and don't want to discuss it, there are those who aren't there at the location, so fortunately, Mr. Billy is very helpful," she said again.

Apart from that, Hannah feels that horror films in Indonesia are very diverse. However, with so many horror stories, this phenomenon can be shaped well if the filmmaker is willing to explore the story.

“Producers see this as a business. Surely they want to make something profitable for them and coincidentally this is the most promising thing right now, it's horror," she said.

"Now the challenge is how filmmakers can make something interesting even though the market is flooded with horror films. Because our industry is like that. Many locations, oh I know this location. This needs to be looked for so that it is new. I personally think that's what we're trying to do at Marni," said Hannah again.

Her desire to always come up with new stories is the basis for Hannah joining in this film. She feels better known as an action actress willing to play a mother figure. In the film Marni, she said her role had more drama than action.

“Hannah, who is probably known for action here, is a mother who is more into drama than action. So there are several choices that I think are very supportive for Marni offering a new breath in the horror market," said Hannah confidently.

“Basically, I'm a big horror fan. I love horror so for me it seems like horror has to be interesting like that, seen it already, done it already, so I'm looking for something new. Whether you want to give lots of blood or lots of ghosts or some fantastic images, if the story isn't interesting, then it's not interesting. So for me it's always comes back to the story," said Hannah.

In the midst of her busy schedule as an actress, Hannah Al Rashid always makes time to watch films in the cinema or read books. The content on social media is dominated by recommendation content or talking about films. She even has a cinema and a place to find her favorite books.

The content began when she was living in London and saw her small library. She then thought about sharing what she enjoyed on social media. She also emphasized that the two things she can share with the public are films and books.

“I really like watching Indonesian films. I always watch Indonesian films at Blok M Square because I think the audience is most representative of lay audiences. If you watch a horror film on the first day in Blok M, why are there so many PH promotions in Blok M because it determines the market there. Coincidentally, I'm hanging out in Blok M a lot, so I really like it, it really makes me escape watching it. If you need a 'me time', watch a movie, look for a book in the basement, have a coffee downstairs. There's a vintage book market, yes there are fake books too," explained Hannah.

"Yesterday I realized that when I was giving book recommendations, a lot of the content in this TikTok era and the current social media content is basically not interesting. I want the content to learn something or get references that will make me have broader insight," she said.

"I'm a private person but there are two things I don't mind sharing with the public: films and books," she said.

The afternoon conversation ended with questions. If you could describe the film Marni in a book, what would the title of the book be?

“Wow, that's really crazy. I'm just trying to think! Cantik Itu Luka, by Eka Kurniawan. Why? Because the main character is female, because when the main character first appeared, it was a bit scary and the book also went back to the past to understand the current context, so maybe Cantik Itu Luka. It's not the same story but the connection is the same," answered Hannah Al Rashid.