Iko Uwais

Did you know?!

1. 

   Big break

   Uwais met director Gareth Evans in 2007, when Evans was making a documentary about silat at Uwais's training hall. Evans cast him as the lead in his first martial art movie, Merantau, and Uwais quit his job as an operational driver for an Indonesian telecom company.

2. 

   Getting ready for a role

   Uwais made his acting debut in Merantau as a young Minang character. That role led him to study silat harimau, the tiger style, under Master Edwel Datuk Rajo Gampo Alam.

3. A role that slipped away

   Iko Uwais had a brief part in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) with Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman. Director J. J. Abrams wanted him to choreograph a lightsaber fight, but it was turned down as too violent.

4. Behind the camera

   In January 2025, Uwais said he had launched a film production company called Uwais Pictures. Its first films include Timur, his directorial debut, which dramatizes the Mapenduma hostage crisis and in which he also acts.