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Interview: Joe Taslim Talks ‘The Furious,’ Balancing Action and Acting, and Why the Asian Action Industry is Fundamentally Different from Hollywood

June 12, 2026Ben MK




Best known for his roles in such films as The Raid: Redemption and Mortal Kombat, and in such shows as Warrior, Joe Taslim is certainly no stranger to the action genre. With an extensive background in Judo that includes numerous medal wins in competition as part of Indonesia's national team, Taslim has brought his extensive martial arts experience to bear on the big screen, starring opposite such genre heavy hitters as Iko Uwais, Yaya Ruhian and Andrew Koji. Now, with his latest movie, The Furious, the 44-year-old martial-artist-turned-actor is teaming up with renowned action-choreographer-turned-director Kenji Tanigaki for an action-packed martial arts extravaganza unlike any other, in a story about two men who must work together to take down a nefarious, underground child-smuggling operation. But with its non-stop action set pieces and brutally authentic fight scenes, are moviegoers ready for what The Furious has in store for them?

I caught up with Joe Taslim to chat about what it was like making The Furious and the challenges of balancing physical action with dramatic acting, as well as to discuss the core differences between working on Asian-made action projects versus working on those produced in Hollywood.

Director Kenji Tanigaki is such a prolific and renowned action director and fight choreographer who's worked with so many talented martial artists and actors, like Donnie Yen and Keanu Reeves. And as a martial artist yourself, I imagine working with him must have been a dream come true. Can you tell me how you and he first got in touch, and what it was like working with him on this film?

Taslim: Dream come true, indeed. I'm a huge fan of him, but we never met. And then we got connected. We follow each other on Instagram, and I never stopped hoping [that I would] work with him. [And then one] day, he contacted me and told me, "I'm gonna fly to Jakarta, and I wanna have a meeting with you." I was like, "Oh, yes sir, let's go! When are you going to be in Jakarta?" And Kenji, he's a legend. He's probably, in my opinion, definitely [one of the] top three best action directors in the world, that always comes with something that levels up the action world. So he proposed to me, "We're going to shoot this movie in Bangkok called The Furious. I need you to be part of it." You know, he's Japanese, very polite. I said, "You don't have to ask me. I would beg to be part of this." And he said, "But I wanted to tell you directly that I want you to join the team."

For me, it was crazy. I felt so honored, I felt so respected. And, definitely, it's Kenji Tanigaki, you can't say no. Then he sent me the script. I loved the script so much. In my head, [I said] I'm gonna go all out for this one, I'm gonna give my heart, my everything for this one. And, luckily enough, throughout the process, everybody was so professional. That's why the movie turned out so special. Because you know for sure when you're involved in something special. Actually, the first couple days of shooting, you know straight away if the movie is gonna be this movie or that movie. And the first couple of days, I just knew this was something special that was gonna elevate action [to] a different level [and] change how people see action, how people shoot action.

You play a journalist named Navin, who's trying to find his missing wife, and who ends up crossing paths and working with Wang Wei, who's looking for his kidnapped daughter; and you both set out to infiltrate this human trafficking syndicate being run by the son of a wealthy tycoon. How did you prepare for this role, both from an acting perspective, and in terms of the physicality required?

Taslim: Yeah, a lot of physical stuff. But for Navin, I think it's quite equal with [the] dramatic scenes. Because Wang Wei, he's mute, [so] a lot of story, especially for the main plot, needs to come from Navin. It was quite a challenging process — I have to juggle between [the] physicality, but also [the] dramatic aspect. But, again, it's a great challenge for an actor. It's a dream role for every actor, I believe, that you can do both.

Usually, in action movies, you're mostly focused on your physicality — how good you are [at] whatever martial arts that you're supposed to do in the movie. [And] to have both, for me, at first I thought it's not gonna be easy. But with Kenji and the Hong Kong [and] Thai team, there was a lot of prep, a lot of discussion. And Kenji understands and he believes in his actors. I'm the type of actor that likes to question a lot, and Kenji's like, "Ok, let's have a coffee before we go to the set, let's just talk about it." So we did that. And that helped me so much. I felt very blessed working with people that really understand and wanted to do it in a passionate way.

The Furious is quite literally a non-stop action roller coaster. And I think it might not be an understatement to say that the movie is 90% fight scenes. You yourself have a fight scene with probably every main character in the film. Was there a scene that was most enjoyable to shoot?

Taslim: The most fun [scene] to do is actually [the] one on one with Wang Wei. That's the most fun to do because I got to do very specific techniques — like a Judo style that probably you don't watch a lot in action movies. Because at that time, [Wang Wei and I] don't really know each other, we're trying to read each other's intentions. Wang Wei knows that, so he's always trying to break the grappling and all of this. For me, it's probably the first time that I had a chance to do storytelling inside the fight.

It's not easy to understand, unless you're a martial artist, unless you understand Judo or grappling, you understand wrestling, that, ok, this guy is trying to do that. So for us in [the] action world, it's our job to elevate how people watch action. We cannot template one kung fu movie to another without really trying to give something new [that hasn't been] shown in action movies. So, what Kenji did was quite brave, but it worked. For me, that's a breakthrough. We're not trying to make action movies to entertain people, but we also [want to] trigger people to talk about it. That's how action can really grow, in my opinion.

You also star alongside such a fantastic cast, including the formidable Brian Le and the iconic Yayan Ruhian. Can you speak a bit about what it was like working with everyone?

Taslim: They're the best human beings. Brian is so funny, it's so easy to work with him. And Joey [Iwanaga], as well. I don't know, I'm probably older than them, but I felt like during the process we were just like a bunch of college friends hanging out and doing something crazy together. And then, with Yayan, no secret, we worked together so many times. And working with him again, the process was super easy for me, because we didn't have to start from zero. I've fought him so many times. And then, knowing that, I said, "Gimme the most craziest choreography. I believe Yayan and me, we can pull it off, because we're one."

Because after The Raid: Redemption, there's one local movie in Indonesia we did together as well. This is the third time that we worked together. We understand each other so much that shooting the fight scene with him, for me, it felt like playing like a kid [and] doing dangerous things together without thinking so much about what's gonna happen. We just flowed. That's the best experience, working with him.

Of course, you've most recently played Bi-Han aka Sub-Zero aka Noob Saibot in Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II. For you, how do the fight scenes in those films compare with the fight scenes in The Furious? And can you say anything about whether you'll return for a Mortal Kombat III?

Taslim: Fingers crossed, we really hope that the second film is successful enough for the studio to greenlight another one. Because I think they already have two movies, at least, in the pocket and where they wanna go with it. I think we're we're doing pretty good, because our budget's also not high. But the plan is to shoot it, hopefully, next year. We don't know yet, until the studio greenlights the project.

[As] for the difference working between that one and The Furious, it's always different. You know, when you work in Hollywood action movies and then you work in Asian-style action movies, it's a different workload. Because, in Asia, [there's] not too much restrictions. You can go all out, you can shoot long hours, you can take it easy on perks. I don't really have to have a trailer, I don’t really have to have certain foods. All those perks, in Asia, we don't really care that much. We just wanna work and do our best, and deliver something amazing that people can remember for decades. That's it, and then other than that, it's not important.

But in Hollywood, there are so many restrictions. Because of insurance, you cannot do this, you cannot do that. And [if you wanna] add another two hours on set — let's say you wanna do something different, you wanna improvise, you cannot. Because they're very organized, in terms of time. Of course, that's a great thing, but in Asia, sometimes we have both. We try to be organized, but at the same time we are open to do crazy stuff. If the director says, "You know what? We're supposed to be wrapped, but I have an idea," then, for sure, a lot of actors that work in Asia are gonna be, "Yeah, let's go!" But you can't do that in Hollywood.

As for the action genre in general, there must be a few movies that really speak to you. Can you tell me what are some of the films you consider the best of the best?

Taslim: I'm a huge fan of Jet Li — the way he fights, his charm, his performance, and his facial expressions when he fights. But the movie that really gives me great memories is because my dad introduced [it] to me and we watched it together. And this is a great memory of me and my dad, [who] passed away a long time ago. I think we watched Fist of Legend so many times, me and my dad, when I was a kid. And my dad is the kind of guy that's like, "Watch him, look at his moves, look at his legs, you see?" So, my dad, when I was a kid, when we were watching action movies together, Fist of Legend is a movie that I always remember forever.

And the beautiful thing about it is [the scene with] Jet Li fighting Yasuaki Kurata, [who] opens his jacket and folds it beautifully before the fight. There's a lesson my dad taught me, is that as a fighter, as a martial artist, no matter how good you are, if you cannot respect your attributes, you cannot respect your gi, you cannot respect all those things that people take for granted, you're not fully at that level yet. So, watching Yasuaki Kurata before the fight, respecting his gi, kimono and everything, [with] very honorable gestures — that's something that I learned as a kid. [That] martial arts is not about hurting people, it's all about respect.

Last but not least, you and Kenji Tanigaki are re-teaming for an Indonesian remake of the Korean movie The Man from Nowhere. Can you tell me what moviegoers can expect?

Taslim: Well, that's still in the plan. I really hope it's going smooth until we get to our first day of shooting. But it's a dream, because [that means] working back [again] with Kenji. I know he's gonna elevate a lot of great things, because the original's already so good. But that was like, 15, 16 years ago. And the action [genre has] changed so much now. There's so many things that we can do — I know for sure me and Kenji can deliver something more Kenji and more me. And then the story itself; the script is such a great script.

So, our homework is trying to elevate the action. Because I think the original did amazing in action. But 15 years [have] passed, and action is now so different. It's about a lot of long takes, a lot of medium shots; you don't try to trick audiences anymore with cuts here and there. So, that's something I can do and Kenji can definitely execute that. We're trying to elevate action to the highest level possible, and with a story that's already so good, I think we can probably give a little bit of freshness [to] that title.
The Furious is in theaters June 12th.




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