Indonesian martial arts master Iko Uwais is undoubtedly one of the country’s biggest movie stars. Having starred in several Hollywood movies in recent years, Iko has also gained global recognition as a bonafide action star.
Of course, for most people, Iko’s breakthrough into global fame came after he starred in The Raid (2011) and its sequel, The Raid 2: Berandal (2014). Both films, helmed by Welsh director Gareth Evans, now have cult followings around the world, including in Scotland.
A woman named Lucy Denholm from Edinburgh, who’s a fan of both Iko and The Raid films, is being talked about in Indonesia after she recently inked an image of Iko’s bloodied face — taken from The Raid 2 — on her arm.
In a photo posted on Instagram four days ago, Lucy wrote that she had to get up early for a five-hour drive and spent as many hours getting her hero’s face tattooed on her body.
“Completely worth it,” Lucy wrote.
Iko himself reposted the photo of Lucy’s tattoo on his Instagram page. The 36-year-old actor said he was “deeply humbled” that someone would immortalize his image on her body, and praised Lucy for her cool new tat.
Lucy was overwhelmed that Iko recognized her tattoo:
Unfortunately, Lucy’s tattoo went viral for an entirely different reason in Indonesia. Many netizens say they can’t help but see a resemblance between Lucy’s Iko tattoo and Indonesian rapper Young Lex.
“I thought it was Yanglek (Young Lex)… Sorry Bang”
“Why did it end up like Yonglek (Young Lex)”
“That’s not @iko.uwais, that’s a talented rapper from Indonesia @young_lex18. Congrats, now you’re a Lex Sugar (Young Lex’s fan club)”
For context, last year, Young Lex took to Instagram to post a photo showing him lying on a hospital bed with a battered face. Initially, he said he was attacked by some K-pop fans who accused him of making sexist remarks about a member of popular girl group BLACKPINK. However, Young Lex later said that he made up the story and that his wounds were all just make-up.
Speaking to Coconuts via Instagram DM, Lucy said she’s not worried about her tattoo’s supposed likeness to Young Lex as she had never even heard of the rapper.
“It’s disrespectful to the [tattoo] artist, but it doesn’t bother me that much because Young Lex isn’t known outside of Indonesia. If I show my tattoo to someone in Britain, they’ll recognize it as Iko,” Lucy said.
To her, what matters is that Iko liked the tattoo.
“The fact that he reposted it is amazing. He was so lovely about it, which made it even better,” Lucy said.
Lucy became a fan of both Iko and The Raid after getting a hold of a DVD of the movie when it was first released on the back of its overwhelmingly positive reviews.
“When I watched it, my mind was blown. I’d never seen pencak silat (Indonesian martial art) before and it was incredible, I was obsessed,” Lucy said.
She added that “it’s been really cool” to see how much Iko’s fanbase has grown and the recognition he’s been getting over the years.
Meanwhile, for you Iko fans out there, you don’t have to wait long to see your favorite action star kicking ass again because action comedy flick Stuber, in which Iko portrays a villain to Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani, is set to hit Indonesian cinemas later this month.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that film director Gareth Evans was from Scotland. Mr Evans is Welsh. We apologize for the error.
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