BissmetheJournalist : Prisia Nasution ( Indonesian actress)

My interview with the Indonesia talented actress Prisia Nasution took place in Alexis Cafe at Great Eastern Mall, Jalan Ampang. Today theSun published this interview. Here is the full article.

Headline: The Accidental Actress

Award-Winning Indonesian actress Prisia Nasution has taken on the female lead role in the Malaysian-made film, Interchange, that is slated to open in cinemas next year.
The film, under the direction of Dain Said, is a supernatural thriller that focuses on a series of gruesome murders under investigation by the authorities.
One of the reasons that motivated the 31-year-old actress to accept the role is because she shares a warm relationship with the director.The first time Prisia and Dain met was in 2012 at the Asian Film Festival in Macau, China.
“There was a connection between us,” says Prisia.
“We hit it off immediately. We had so much fun. I enjoyed the time I spent with him. I even told him that it will be more fun if we make a film together.”
Three years later, she and Dain are making this dream a reality.
“A lot of people out there are making safe movies,” she says,
“But Dain is making a movie that is out of the box.Interchange is about birth, life and death.”
Prisia is not allowed to describe her role in detail as it will reveal too much of the plot. She also wants viewers to be able to discover the film on their own.
“All I can say is that my character has a lot of layers,” she
says.
Going back to her past, Prisia explains that her career as an actress was a happy accident. She started out as an athlete who represented her country in silat. Later, she began receiving offers to be a catwalk model.
“I agreed to the offers because I wanted to earn money.”
But she hated the industry.
“Everyone is always judging how you look, and always finding
flaws with your appearance,” she recalls.
“You hear harsh comments like you are too skinny … your legs are too big ... your hands are too manly … your left eye is smaller than your right eye.
“Modelling was all about appearances.I stopped appreciating myself and I did not like that.”
Then, in 2007, acting jobs came knocking at her door and she appeared in a handful of telemovies before making the leap to the big screen.
Her role as a ronggeng (a type of Javanese dance) dancer in the movie Sang Penari, based on the Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk trilogy written by Ahmad Tohari, earned her the best actress award at the 2011 Indonesian Film Festival.
Ironically, she remembers having failed her first audition for that role.
“But then, I started reading the novel and I fell in love with the story.”
Prisia believes in being selective about her choice of roles and only wants projects that she is passionate about. She is also a strong believer of method acting, from learning ronggeng for Sang Penari to living among indigenous people for her role in Sekolah Rimba, where she played a teacher who works with indigenous children.
“I ate what they ate,” she recalls.
“I slept where they slept. I learned their dialect. Research is important if you want to give a convincing performance.”
Some actors have complained they have a hard time shaking off their character roles in-between filming. Fortunately, Prisia has never experienced this kind of madness.
“I hope I never do,” she says with a laugh.
“I am in character between ‘action’ and ‘cut’. Before ‘action’, people can joke with me, and after ‘cut’, people can still joke with me.”