JP/Dina IndrasafitriThose who have seen the action movie Merantau might remember Yayan Ruhiyan as the pragmatic, no-nonsense Eric, who bombarded a man twice his size with fatal blows, causing the latter to collapse in defeat before realizing what had hit him.

In The Raid, set to be released in March, Yayan is the sadistic, fearless Mad Dog, an even more formidable figure seemingly devoid of any goodwill.

Yayan offscreen, however, seldom speaks without a smile. Humble and soft spoken, his only intimidating trait for those meeting him for the first time might be his compact yet obviously toned figure and the fact that he caused the table to rattle significantly each time his sinewed arm brushed against it.

He was unsure why he was chosen as the antagonist in both of the films directed by Gareth Huw Evans.

“I don’t think I have a scary face. Some people sa...