Samuel Rizal Fully Embraces the Role of a Villain in the Film 'RAJAH', Receives Praise from the Director

Kapanlagi.com - Actor Samuel Rizal once again proves his acting quality through the historical adventure film titled RAJAH. In this film, Samuel is entrusted with the central character named Malawangsa, an antagonistic boss with a significant influence on the story.

Malawangsa is depicted as an evil leader who has followers with supernatural powers. Samuel Rizal feels that this character carries a heavy weight but is very interesting to explore further.

"I am Malawangsa. Yes, as seen in the trailer, the expressions, the dialogues, logically you can already read what the character is like," said Samuel Rizal at the launch of the poster and trailer for the film RAJAH, in the Cibubur area, East Jakarta, Thursday (11/12/2025).

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1. Reasons for Being Interested in Joining 'RAJAH'

Samuel admits to being quite selective in accepting film offers. However, the depth of the story and the complexity of the character Malawangsa immediately attracted him to join this project directed by Jiwo Kusumo.

"Definitely the story, and the two characters. I had some quite challenging roles yesterday. But in this film, I can explore the character more," Samuel explained.

2. Rely on Instinct and Experience

Launch of the Poster and Trailer for the Film RAJAH (credit: KapanLagi.com/Fikri Alfi Rosyadi

Interestingly, during the shooting process, Samuel rarely engaged in intense discussions or brainstorming with the director about character depth. He prefers to rely on his instincts and experience as an actor to bring the character to life.

"I delve into the character, and I almost never brainstorm with Mas Jiwo. In the initial scene, I wanted to know the director's assessment, usually if it's lacking, 'Sam, more on that', but this time he just stayed silent. That means it’s applause for me," Samuel recalled.

3. The Shooting Process Went Very Smoothly

The director's silent demeanor was interpreted by Samuel as a sign of satisfaction. This proved to be true, as his thorough preparation made the shooting process run very smoothly without much repetition of scenes.

"It means I delved into it well and correctly. As far as I remember, we never brainstormed, we just went straight into it and I was surprised," he said.

4. High Appreciation from the Director

Samuel's total commitment also received high appreciation from Jiwo Kusumo as the director. Jiwo acknowledged that the role of Malawangsa was a particular concern, but Samuel managed to execute it perfectly.

"So the character of Malawangsa was what took our time to discuss. It turns out that Mas Samuel is truly amazing, a top-class actor. When I said action, it was one take okay. Mas Samuel portrayed Malawangsa very well," praised Jiwo.

(kpl/far/fbi)