Best Child Actor in Pengabdi Setan: Learning Sign Language  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In the Pengabdi Setan (Servant of the Devil) movie, Muhammad Adhiyat plays Ian, a mute seven-year-old and the fourth and youngest child of Bapak (played by Bront Palarae) and Ibu (Ayu Laksmi). At first, they thought Ian would be taken by Satanic worshippers. But as it turns out, he is the devil incarnate himself.

Because of his performance, Tempo chose Adhiyat as 2017’s best child actor. Adhiyat’s acting in Pengabdi Setan has attracted considerable attention, particularly because he managed to become a source of humor in the horror film. Additionally, Adhiyat is seen as having successfully demonstrated broad characterization, as evident in his drastic character transformation. 

Acting before the camera is nothing new to Adhiyat. Born in Jakarta on February 28, 2011, the boy has starred in several TV commercials since he was only eight months old. To date, he has appeared in 17 commercials. But Pengabdi Setan was his first experience acting in a film. Adhiyat’s involvement in the movie was, in fact, accidental because his parents had not registered him for casting. "A friend had sent my boy’s photo to an agency. He was later selected to join the casting," said Adhiyat’s father, Andyanto Prasetyawan, 33.

Read: Pengabdi Setan is the Best Selling Indonesian Movie in Malaysia

At first, Andyanto was doubtful about letting his son cast for a horror film, feeling that horror movies tended to gravitate towards pornographic scenes. Neither did he want his child to play the devil. But Andyanto later relented. Around early February, Adhiyat-then still in kindergarten-finally participated in the film’s casting, although the movie title was yet unknown.

Adhiyat followed the casting process for 15 minutes, with the movie director Joko Anwar himself selecting the hopefuls. According to Adhiyat, one of the tests was to imitate the gestures of someone doing sign language. "We learned sign language during casting. First, seven people must be ‘patient’, then ‘I love you’," said the first-grader at the Al-Manar Integrated Islamic Elementary School, East Jakarta.

Adhiyat passed the selection. Joko Anwar chose him to play Ian, a mute boy who signs to communicate. "When casting, I certainly picked the most gifted, smartest and most appropriate for this role," said Joko.

Again, Andyanto became hesitant in letting his son play in the film, after obtaining and reading Pengabdi Setan’s screenplay, especially the scene where Pak Ustad (Arswendi Nasution) is killed and the scene where Adhiyat enters a well. Finally he gave in, after receiving a safety guarantee from Rapi Films, the movie’s production house.

Before filming began, Adhiyat and a number of the film’s actors and actresses were required to learn sign language intensively at Rapi Films. He joined one or two sessions every day for three weeks, each lasting for two hours. The instructor was Surya Sahetapy, movie couple Ray Sahetapy and Dewi Yull’s hearing-disabled son. The sessions were accompanied by a translator to help facilitate communication between Surya and Adhiyat and the others. "It’s difficult to memorize sign language, but the teacher was kind," said Adhiyat.

Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine