Courtesy of L'Oreal

Tweens to young adults know her lines by heart: “So if you have no friends, whose fault is that? Mine? My friends’ fault?” she utters in Jakarta lingo.  

A string of roles followed AADC, along with recognition and awards. Nearly a decade later Dian is as feisty as that 19-year-old starlet, but with a husband and a newfound dream.

Sitting in a food bar in Soekarno- Hatta International Airport before leaving for Japan on a work-related trip for one of the products she endorses, Dian shared with The Jakarta Post bits of her life outside  showbiz, how she deals with fame, being married and her dream of studying business abroad.

Many would think of Dian as an actress and model, but Dian said there was a whole other side to her, one that is more serious and more ambitious in her intellectual life.

She graduated from one of the best state universities in Indonesia majoring in philosophy and is now working toward entering business school in either the US or Europe.

Her eyes lit up when she talked about her plans to study business and finance. When asked about her life as an actress she refused to be boxed into that one role. She talked about how she accidentally became a movie star.

“The definition [of being an actress] is very limiting for me. I would like to define myself more as something that’s limitless,” she said.

“You title yourself an actress and then you become an object of the public. It’s as if they own you. But, they don’t. You have your own life,” she said.

Her initial dream was to be a director. She was inspired after watching Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Her first film production was an idealistic indie movie titled Bintang Jatuh (Falling Star).

“I wanted to be a director and you know what they gave me? A part!” she said laughing.

Dian decided to join the production because at least, she said, she could see how a movie was produced.

“And then, I was cast for several movies. The chance to work with Nan T. Achnas  and Christine Hakim was so appealing at the time I took it,” she said referring to the director and co-star in Pasir Berbisik (Whispering Sands).

The success of AADC catapulted Dian to a new level of stardom, which she said was difficult to deal with. “So overrated, man,” she said of her fame, shaking her head.

She said it was terrifying as a 19-year-old to have people noticing her everywhere she went.

“Before, I was known by people who read teen magazines, so people who might have recognized me were ones who read Gadis and Kawanku,” she said. But after AADC, from middle-aged ladies to old men in  kiosks recognized her.

“It’s never enjoyable that part. Being noticed — it’s not comfortable. You feel like you don’t own yourself anymore,” she said.

“You know yourself from how your mom treats you; how people at home treat you, and then you know how to treat yourself. That’s the natural way,” she said.

She said she felt uncomfortable when people approached her in malls asking for autographs.

“Because I know the one they’re saying ‘hi’ to is not the same person my mom talks to.

“It’s the Dian that they create in their minds or in the movies,” she said. “It took a long time
to be comfortable in that position.”

Her discomfort might have stemmed from the fact that she did not seek fame. Dian said the main reason she entered a teen magazine pageant when she was 13 to one day pay for tuition to study abroad.

 “[Modeling and acting] is my vehicle. People put a label on me and think that this is all I am. That’s a big ‘no no’.

“I keep asking myself: What is it that I want? The answer is always the same, I want to study abroad.”

Five years ago her dream was to study film directing at New York University. But Dian said her dream shifted into studying finance and business. “It’s a dynamic thing. It keeps on changing. Maybe tomorrow morning I’ll wake up with a different dream. It’s natural.”   

Dian’s mother raised her as a single mother after a divorce when Dian was 10 years old. “I knew
my mom would not be able to send me where the corporates’ kids go. But I knew I was not stupid. Those rich kids should not try to snob around just because they have money and can go to the University of Spoiled Children,” she said.

“I’m middle class. My mom’s a single mother. And I’m going to pay my own goddamn tuition myself.”  

The confidence she’s had since a teenager, Dian said, was the result of her mother stuffing her with Stephen R. Covey books.

“My mother was an HR practitioner and she’s crazy about Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. She gave me Stephen Covey’s book when I was 10, right after she divorced my father,”

“So I was brainwashed by all this self-help jargon. I was result oriented, I was always focused on what I wanted,” she said.

Her savings from movies and modeling contracts is now more than enough, she said. She financed half of the April wedding reception with her husband Indraguna Sutowo.

Next month, the couple will take the GMAT preparation together. Dian said they plan to reach their dreams together.

“After you are married, you get the chance to build your dreams together. A lover plus a best friend equals husband. It’s a good thing.”

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