Top 10 Surprising Facts about Joe Taslim

Joe Taslim on Festival Film Indonesia 2015. Image byNetmediatama – FFI 2015 Part 8/8 – Wikimedia

Top 10 Surprising Facts about Joe Taslim

Johannes popularly known as Joe Taslim is an Indonesian actor and former Judo athlete of Chinese descent. He was born on 23, June, 1981 in South Sumatera, Indonesia. He was exposed to martial arts at an early age.

He found his passion in Judo and this led to his career as a professional Judo athlete. As a member of Indonesia’s Judo national team, he won several gold medals from 1997 -2009 in Asian and National championships. He retired from Judo in his late 20s to pursue acting.

He became well known in the 2012 action film The Raid: Redemption. His known for other roles as Jah in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Star Trek: Beyond (2016), as Li Yong in Warrior and as Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat (2021).

Taslim is active as a model and actor, appearing in magazines, TV commercials and several Indonesian feature films.

1. Taslim has a background in different martial arts

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He learned martial-arts skills from an early age—skills which would be pivotal in his many movie action roles in the future.

He mastered Judo, Taekwondo, Pencak Silat and Wushu. He is a well-decorated martial artist, having won a gold medal in the 1999 Southeast Asian Judo Championships, a gold medal at the 2008 National Sports Week and a silver medal at the 2007 SEA Games.

His interest in martial arts was piqued at a young age. He received training in disciplines like Pencak Silat, Wushu, Judo, Taekwondo, and Shotokan. Eventually, he chose to pursue an athletic career in Judo. At the national level, he won multiple gold medals for himself.

2. Taslim has been referred by his cast members as the fastest human being on the planet

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During casting the crew was in awe of his talent and speed. They described him as the fastest human being on the planet. Even when he was wearing armor they had to almost slow him down.

He had a positive influence on the team. Everyone wanted to share a scene with him. To have a guy like Hiroyuki Sanada, who often held back when fighting other people, having to give it his all when fighting Taslim, just shows how amazing of a fighter he is.

He is living his dream and keeps humble while doing it. He says that he does it to inspire Indonesians. He considers himself fortunate and works hard to represent.

3. Taslim’s acting career started out on mere luck

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How Taslim started out is somewhat a peculiar story. He found Gareth Evans on social media. He asked the filmmaker to give him a chance to audition and conditioned to that if he didn’t like him, he should just kick him out of the room.

It was a surprise when he got a reply minutes later. Gareth was in the middle of making his next movie. He invited Taslim to try it out. That is how he got a role in the Raid. The Raid became a benchmark of Silat. 

His lack of training in the martial art Silat did not deter him from following his dream. He was a quick learner. He performed so well that it opened up the action movie industry.

4. He had to learn Japanese and mandarin for roles

He is no coward on taking on daunting tasks. When he couldn’t speak Japanese or Mandarin, he went ahead and learnt them. Nothing was going to keep him from the dream of becoming a movie star.

His cast-mate Ludi, Lin taught him a lot about how to pronounce Mandarin. He spoke very basic Mandarin. His mother used to speak Mandarin to me as a child. He also got a teacher from Beijing to help.

When it came to Japanese another cast mate took the challenge and taught him on set.

5. Taslim grew up as a double minority

Indonesia has a very high population of Muslims. He is a proud Chinese Indonesian. That makes him a double minority. Being a minority comes with its challenges.  Opportunities are less and minorities have to work twice as hard to break through.

He is however very proud to be Indonesian and seeks to represent his people. He is the very definition of everything is possible.

He grew up watching the likes of Dustin Nguyen and Bruce Lee. To see Asians in Hollywood made me believe that he could do it. So it’s not just fantasy. He takes his career very seriously and aspires to inspire his people.

6. He played a character that had not been ‘made’ for an Asian descent

An increase in the anti-Asian racism has been seen recently. Being of Asian descent in Hollywood at the moment is hard. The hate is more conspicuous now than before more so in the movie franchise.

He believes that whitewashing a character is an insult. Anyone from anywhere in the world can act out in any role. As long as you have the talent for it, it doesn’t make sense keeping you from it because of who you are.

Hollywood however has been more welcoming to people of different races and ethnic backgrounds. His role in Raid had not been meant to be of an Asian character. However he took it up and owned it.

7. Taslim’s Judo knowledge laid a foundation to his action career

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Taslim was a Judo expert. Judo is not commonly seen in the action genre. His martial arts background did help but it does not mean that is why he was good at his job. His dedication and willingness to learn elevated his career.

He regards martial arts are like music. He spent 15 years in Judo. In Judo there is no punching, kicking or basically all the stuff that you see in the movie. In Judo it is all about wrestling.

He believes, like in music, when one is good in one instrument and understands the core of the rhythm, the music, even if you jump to another, the case is different but what’s inside is the same.

8. He starred in action comedy as a romantic lead

Hollywood has somewhat put Taslim in a box. Every time he was offered a role it was of as a very strong, violent, dangerous villain or antihero character.

In Asia he has the freedom to act out and do all. He made a movie in Indonesia called ‘Hit & Run’. It is an action comedy in which he also plays a romantic lead.

He does not like to be constrained to one specific genre. He likes to explore and take up opportunities in order to grow. The best actor is one who is flexible. He is living in two worlds and is grateful.

9. Taslim’s dream is to star in non-action movies

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This may come as a shock but Taslim’s dream is to star in non-action movies. He would like to be pushed out of his comfort zone. He likes family stories.

His favorite movies are Minari and Phantom Thread, by Paul Thomas Anderson. That is one filmmaker he aspires to work with. He has also expressed his desire to work with another favorite Bong Joon Ho.

He still goes by what he said in the message that jump started his career— if you don’t like me, just kick me out of the room.

10. He loves to sing

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Talk of a man of many talents! Besides his successful career as an action star, he has a hidden musical talent in singing and playing the piano.

His action fans might not guess it. However between filming intense fights and those brutal fatalities on set, he can be found in his hotel room playing guitar covers of ‘90s R&B love songs by Babyface, Toni Braxton and Brian McKnight.

Ribbon in the Sky is his favorite song of Steve Wonder. He also claims that he is shy and prefers to sing by myself at say midnight.