So Difficult! Dian Sastro's Struggle to be Involved in 'GADIS KRETEK' from Antisocial for Six Months to Depression

Kapanlagi.com - Dian Sastrowardoyo is trusted as the main character in the original Netflix series titled GADIS KRETEK. She plays a character named Dasiyah or Jeng Yah who wants to be a kretek cigarette sauce maker.

Bringing the character of Jeng Yah to life is not an easy task for Dian. Because the character she plays is very different, it requires extra preparation.

"The character Jeng Yah is very far from my true self, so I face a big challenge as well as an opportunity to explore. The way this character speaks, body gestures, tempo, walking style, everything is different from me. Far from my personal character," said Dian when met in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday (1/11/2023).

1. Six Months Without Socializing

Dian Sastro's Struggle to be Involved in 'GADIS KRETEK' © KapanLagi.com/Muhammad Akrom Sukarya

In the series, Jeng Yah is depicted as an independent woman who rarely interacts with many people. In order to get the feeling of that situation, Dian became anti-social for six months.

"I stopped meeting my friends for about six months. I stopped socializing, I stopped playing tennis and running, which I really love. Because I wanted to train my body to move like women in that era where there weren't too many activities, let alone running, it's impossible," explained Dian.

2. Feeling Depressed

Being deliberately antisocial for six months made Dian Sastrowardoyo feel depressed. Fortunately, the shooting process started and finished quickly, so her role as an actor was completed.

"Dasiyah's job doesn't involve much interaction with people, just writing. It was very depressing for me to enter that state because I am someone who enjoys hanging out with friends, going out, so this is something far from my true self. Here, I learned that an actor is a slave to the character. We have to surrender ourselves to the character. If something is needed, we have to accept it," said Dian.

(kpl/abs/tdr)