Actor Remy Ishak had to set his fear of water aside for his role in the movie Kau Takdirku. In the film, 35-year-old Remy plays Kamar, a man who is secretly in love with his adopted sister Alya (Ezzaty Abdullah). When Alya marries his best friend (Bront Palarae), Kamar is heartbroken. He tries to move on, but fate keeps bringing him back to Alya.
Kau Takdirku is shot on the island of Langkawi, Kedah and features a lot of underwater scenes. At one point, Kamar has to save Alya from drowning. In reality, Remy has had a near-death experience when he tried to rescue a stranger and developed a fear of water since.
“I had a traumatic experience with water. Many years ago during a vacation at a waterfall, I tried to save someone from drowning. Somehow, I got myself into trouble at the same time and almost drowned as well. Luckily, someone else was there to save both of us,” he said during an interview in Shah Alam, Selangor.
Remy added: “I’m always conscious about water. It reminds me of that time where I was out of breath and I felt helpless. If I can’t feel the surface (of the ground) with my toes, I will panic.”
When he was offered the role in Kau Takdirku, Remy told director Jason Chong about his fear of water.
“He said there will be certified divers on set to assist us. Honestly, I had problems trusting them,” the actor revealed.
In Kau Takdirku, Remy Ishak plays a heartbroken man who has to watch the woman he loves marry his best friend. Photo: The Star/Raja Faisal Hishan
But Remy being a dedicated actor that he is was not going to let his fear overcome him. In fact, he turned his fear into a positive aspect for his role.
“Kamar is also someone with fear of water. I can be that person simply by remembering how it was when I was drowning. I felt that I was meant to play Kamar,” said Remy, with a smile.
While it was not hard for Remy to get with the programme for his role, he admitted that it was difficult to play someone who hates Bront.
Remy explained that he and Bront are close friends. The two have previously starred together in movies Jiwa Taiko, Anak Halal and Sejoli: Misi Cantas Cinta.
“He’s a funny guy and he loves to joke on the set. So for my part, I tried to keep my distance from him. Being around him is just something I do if my character requires it. I do remember some parts of the shoot being intense because I was channeling my character’s emotional turmoil.”
Wedding plans
While promoting Kau Takdirku, Remy was also in the midst of preparing for his role as a fighter in an upcoming Astro miniseries Dosa.
He has to attend fighting classes and work on achieving a leaner figure for the show.
“I’m used to putting on and losing weight for a role. But as I get older, it’s becoming harder to do so,” he lamented. He had, however, better news on a more personal matter: Remy announced that he is engaged to businesswoman Ezza Yusof since May.
He has not set a wedding date as his mind is currently occupied with Pulang, an upcoming historical drama set for release in January 2018. The film marks Remy’s third big screen collaboration with director Kabir Bhatia after Nur Kasih The Movie and Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil.
“I feel that Pulang is one of my best acting efforts to date. I don’t want to think about anything apart from helping to make the movie a success. I just want to wait for Pulang to be done and then I can focus on other things.”
