Exclusive Hannah Al Rashid Again Builds Acting Quality In Horror Films

Hannah Al Rashid (Photo: Bambang E Ros, DI: Raga/VOI)

JAKARTA - Hannah Al Rashid returns to acting through her latest film, Marini: The Story of Wewe Gombel. As an actress who often stars in action and horror projects, she feels enthusiastic about playing the two 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 increased.

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

"It's just her mate here. 10 years later. Billy Christian is a director who I'm curious about and really want cooperation that his expertise in horror is something very interesting because after acquaintances and chatting, he has a close relationship with things like this so it feels like he's the right person to explore a theme like this," Hannah Al Rashid told VOI that afternoon.

Long discussions made him really enjoy this production process. Hannah also feels that Billy, who has a close relationship with supernatural things, has made his shooting experience full of surprises.

"For example, when he found out that in this room there was energy that turned out to be matching with the energy needed for Rahayu, he put this place into the location of Rahayu's room so that the energy was together. And I just found out now," he continued.

"So apart from the discussion in real life with the actor, he thought something like that and I had to thank him because the shooting location he chose was quite different and very supportive, so I don't know later people will see people's performance, that's what I'm supernatural? hahahaha. If it's good, it means ghosts," said Hannah with a laugh.

Acting since 2012, Hannah Al Rashid has starred in various film and serial titles. Some of them are horror genres such as V/H/S/2 (2013), Jailangkung (2017), Jailangkung 2 (2018), as well as Dreadout and Queen of Black Sciences in 2019.

"I'm any genre, keep going back to the story, go back to the script and go back to the characters offered," he replied when asked about choosing an acting project.

"I want to keep learning. So if the character doesn't offer something to study, you don't have to. Incidentally, Rahayu's character is something new for me, so she has played a young mother before but this is a very different context. Single mom, has children with special needs, has teenagers, left by her husband, many problems, this is all kinds of things so there are many layers that can be played, "he explained about new characters.

In addition, Hannah is also interested in playing a film that focuses on the character of a woman (female centric). According to her, women have a long history, especially with horror films. However, she sees Marni as a different horror film in the depiction of her female character.

"I think it sounds very strange, but we seem to humanize Wewe. That means, if you are feared and exiled, of course yes, but at least we understand why Wewe can exist and often because of human actions. Because the consequences are very explored. Evil is just evil, sometimes we need to understand why people can be evil, why? What happened to them? We become critical humans who think more broadly, what is offered is interesting, "said Hannah.

"Marni's character is tough, so if later she wants to come and scare people, I understand! In real life, right, there are good ghosts, some are not good. It means that we live around there are hundreds of entities that we can't see, not all of them are evil. And after all, we have to learn co-exist with things like that," he said.

Careers in various media have made the 38-year-old actress feel that it is not difficult to do various genres. He emphasized that the two most draining genres are the action and horror genres. Interestingly, the two genres are combined in the film Marni: The Story of Wewe Gombel.

"Working for sure, I want the approach to be the same as the output and effort, there are only things that distinguish between genres. Two very technical genres, action, there is a need to learn the choreography, how to fall, react, learn to use the weapon, for example. Very technical. Horror is like that. Horror on the basis of the story is much more intense, so whether it's running or screaming, crying, requires much more energy than sitting, "explained Hannah.

I feel very much helped by other casts when I return to the base camp tent and the energy is happy, here my energy is taken away. Indeed, the way I work is always different and must be adapted per genre but the effort and enthusiasm should be the same in every film. In fact, sometimes there are directors who let go and don't embrace and don't want to discuss, some are not there, so fortunately, Mas Billy is very helped," he said again.

In addition, Hannah feels that horror films in Indonesia are very diverse. But with so many horror stories, this phenomenon can be formed properly if the filmmaker wants to explore the story.

'Produser sees this as a business. Surely they want to make something profitable for them and coincidentally at this time the most promising is horror,' he said.

"Now the challenge is how a filmmaker can make something interesting even though the market is flooded with horror films. Because our industry is like that. There are many locations, oh I know the location. It needs to be sought so that it is new. I think that's what we are trying to do in Marini," said Hannah again.

His desire to always appear with a new story that is the basis for Hannah's joining in this film. He feels better known as an action actor who is willing to play a mother. In the film Marini, he mentions that his role gets more portion of drama than action.

Hannah yang mungkin dikenal aksi di sini menjadi ibu-bua yang lebih drama dari aksi. Jadi ada beberapa pilihan yang menurutnya sangat mendukung untuk Marini menawarkan breath baru dalam pasar horor, kata Hannah dengan yakin.

"Basically I'm a big horror fan. I love horror, so for me it's like horror, you have to be interesting, if that's the case, it's seen it already, done it already so looking for something new. You want to give a lot of blood or lots of ghosts or fantastic pictures, what if the story isn't interesting, it's not interesting. So for me it's always come back to the story, "said Hannah.

In the midst of her busy life as an actress, Hannah Al Rashid always takes the time to watch movies in theaters or read books. Her content on social media is dominated by recommended content or talking about movies. In fact, she has a cinema and a place to look for favorite books.

The content started when he was living in London and saw his small library. He then thought about sharing what he enjoyed on social media. He also emphasized that the two things he could share with the public were movies and books.

I really like watching Indonesian films. I always watch Indonesian films in Blok M Square because I think the audience represents the most ordinary audience. If you watch horror films on the first day in Blok M, why are there many PH promos in Blok M because they determine the market there. Incidentally, I'm a boy. Blok M so I really like it, really make me run away to watch. If you need me time, watch, look for books in the basement, coffee below, there is a vintage book market, there is also a fake book, "explained Hannah.

"Yesterday I realized that when I gave the book recommendations, this TikTok-era content and the current social media content were not interesting basically. I want that the content learns something or gets a reference that makes me have more broader insight," he said.

"I'm a private person but there are 2 things that I can't share with the public: movies and books," he said.

Bincang that afternoon ended with a question. If you can describe Marni's film in a book, then what book title is it?

"Wow, it's really crazy. I'm just trying to think! Beautiful is Luka, Eka Kurniawan. Why? Because the main character is a woman, because when the main character first appeared it was a bit horror and the book also returned to the past to understand the contexts of today so maybe Beautiful is Luka. Not the same story but the same relationship," answered Hannah Al Rashid.