Before Succeeding In Hollywood With An Honor Of Rp. 15 Billion, Iko Uwais Was A Telecommunication Company Driver

Iko Uwais (Foto: IG @ iko.uwais)

JAKARTA - The fate of a person in the future no one can ever know and for sure. Like Iko Uwais. The man who was born in Jakarta on February 12, 1983, initially never thought of becoming an action film player.

He only acted for a documentary directed by Gareth Evans about silat. He grew up in a family of Betawi descent, and studied the martial art of Pencak Silat, from the age of 10 at his uncle's silat school, Tiga Berantai.

After shooting a documentary, Iko worked as a driver for a telecommunications company. However, Gareth believes Iko has great talent. He then took Iko back in a big screen film titled Merantau.

He made his acting debut seriously by playing the character of Yuda, a Minangkabau immigrant in 2009. Still with Gareth Evans, Iko then played in a film called The Raid.

The film began shooting in mid-March 2011 and was released internationally, on 22 March 2012 in Australia and New Zealand; 23 March 2012 in Indonesia and North America and 18 May 2012 in the UK international title The Raid: Redemption.

This film further catapulted Iko's name into the world cinema scene after being acclaimed by critics and audiences at various festivals as one of the best martial arts films over a period of years.

Iko Uwais then debuted as a film choreographer in Hollywood. His first job did not provide much income.

“The first role as a choreographer is only 21 million (rupiah). It took four months to complete. But that's because I'm new," said Iko Uwais on the AH YouTube channel which was uploaded on Sunday, May 22.

Now Iko Uwais' payment has reached billions of rupiah. "Thank God I can pay for electricity. It is above one million dollars (United States)," said Iko Uwais. If converted, Iko Uwais' honorarium is almost Rp. 14.5 billion or almost Rp. 15 billion.