Exclusive Aurora Ribero: Exceeding The Limit Of Self-Actorship Through Horror Films

JAKARTA - Young artist Aurora Ribero is back on the big screen with a challenging role as Annisa in the film Massacre of Shaman Santet. In an interview session that took place at the VOI office, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, Monday, April 14, Aurora shared her experience in exploring the complex character full of inner wounds.

"So I'm here to play Annisa. She's one of the children of a pesantren in the East Java area. Because she's actually a really introverted person and kept quiet and didn't seem to say much more about keeping to herself. And she also had a traumatic background when she was left by her mother and her family. Fortunately, in this pesantren she had one best of her, she was played by Kaneishia Yusuf. It was like her trusted person," said Aurora Ribero.

Annisa's character is described as a person who is very sensitive to the environment and surrounding energy, although he doesn't talk much.

What's interesting is that even though he's very introverted and actually doesn't really show his true side. He's very, very sensitive to the situation, atmosphere, energy, what's happening, people's vibes around him. It's like a small code, he can see that, you know, there's something like this, eh, something like that. That's what makes it interesting in my opinion. And with his past trauma it also makes him a pretty deep dimension as a character," said Aurora.

Although not completely identical, Aurora admitted that she found similarities between herself and Annisa which made the character deepening process feel more natural.

"There is actually (a similarity between the original character and the film). My character is really introverted. I'm not that introverted. I'm still ambiverted but sometimes I have to charge my battery myself. So there are similarities there and there are similarities in me. I don't say everything I think is the same as him. I keep to myself too," he said.

"Then I'll be as stubborn as I'll be. So it's like if you want to know something, you have to know it to the root. Anyway, it has to happen. So it's really easy because of this similarity," he continued. Interestingly, Aurora is also preparing her role by memorizing a seat verse specifically added to the film scene.

"Yes, I made a verse of the chair for this film. But it's fun to memorize the verse of the chair. Now I like to talk about the verse of the chair sometimes. It's like randomly. Learning on Youtube in the room before taking. It's like a few weeks before taking it. When I was reading, I also memorized it. Because at first there wasn't a scene that read the chair, but suddenly it seems like yes, it turns out that if there's nothing missing, it's not like that. So I was told to keep being memorized, "he said.

Aurora also pays great attention to Annssa's gestures and habits to build a more realistic and rooted character in the character's background.

"Then I also look for a gesture for Annisa's character, how about the character behind her like her. Then during her life she's been doing anything. What kind of gestures do she think she will be. Yes, small things like what kind of hobby she has in a place like that. In pesantren. Actually, there's not much that can be done, "concluded Aurora.

Aurora Ribero expressed her deep interest in the horror film genre, both as an audience and actor. In an interview, Aurora told how horror films not only present fear, but also offer complex and deep emotional exploration.

"Like it, I really like the horror genre, there is one of my favorite films from outside the title Hereditary, it's all the time it's my favorite, and there's art itself from horror films like that, highlight fear in humans, fear in ourselves maybe like everything can be scary for us, something we don't know can be scary, so it's really interesting for me," said Aurora Ribero. In her involvement in horror films, Aurora felt how this genre forced her to push the boundaries of acting skills, especially in an atmosphere that was tense and needed an authentic emotional reaction.

"Playing horror films is really exploration of acting, yes, it's like a bit push the limit, it's also in horror movies, like how do I make this organic and raw, especially if sometimes take it many times, it's like I already know what will happen, how can I keep it something different," he said.

To get a reaction of natural fear, Aurora even avoids seeing property or sightings that will appear in the scene, so that her shock remains real when the camera starts recording. "Sometimes it's possible that scene-scene, like if for example scene-scene are scared, right, before taking it, it actually looks like I've seen it for a long time, so sometimes I feel like I've been seeing it for a long time, so I don't have to look at it first so I'm really shocked. Because fortunately I'm really shocked, I like to be done at the location because I'm really shocked," he explained.

"But it's good for me so I can be really surprised to the extent of the oath. It's scary, but yes, that's the challenge, don't take too long to see it so that later when you look like you can be more organic and raw, you'll be surprised," added Aurora.

When asked about the considerations in choosing a film project, Aurora emphasized the importance of personal connections with characters and confidence in the production team.

"(Standar choosing a film project) Maybe if I feel there is a connection there with me and the characters I will receive, it's enough for me and by knowing other directors and casts, passion is also with the film, want to make this something that maybe we can find something, so maybe this can be better or what it's already made me really happy," he said.

At the end, Aurora expressed her desire to engage in horror films with a deep psychological approach like Hereditary.

"I really want to be in a horror that looks like a Hereditary, horror psychology seems to be the most interesting for me," he concluded.