The Most Famous

ACTORS from Indonesia

This page contains a list of the greatest Indonesian Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 16 of which were born in Indonesia. This makes Indonesia the birth place of the 49th most number of Actors behind Algeria, and Egypt.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Indonesian Actors of all time. This list of famous Indonesian Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Indonesian Actors.

1. Laura Gemser (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 68.56, Laura Gemser is the most famous Indonesian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 33 different languages on wikipedia.

Laurette Marcia Gemser (born 5 October 1950) is an Indonesian-Dutch retired actress, model and costume designer. She is primarily known for her work in Italian erotic cinema, most notably the Emanuelle series. Many of her films were collaborations with directors Joe D'Amato and Bruno Mattei. Gemser has also been credited as Moira Chen, most notably in Love Is Forever (1983).

2. Lil Dagover (1887 - 1980)

With an HPI of 62.30, Lil Dagover is the 2nd most famous Indonesian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Lil Dagover (German: [lil ˈdaː.ɡo.vɐ] ; born Marie Antonia Siegelinde Martha Seubert; 30 September 1887 – 23 January 1980) was a German actress whose film career spanned between 1913 and 1979. She was one of the most popular and recognized film actresses in the Weimar Republic.

3. Valerie Mahaffey (1953 - 2025)

With an HPI of 58.20, Valerie Mahaffey is the 3rd most famous Indonesian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Valerie Mahaffey (June 16, 1953 – May 30, 2025) was an American actress. She began her career starring in the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors (1979–81), for which in 1980 she was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In 1992, Mahaffey won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role in the CBS drama series Northern Exposure. She later appeared in television shows such as Wings, Desperate Housewives, Devious Maids, Young Sheldon, and Dead to Me. Mahaffey also appeared in a number of movies, including Senior Trip (1995), Jungle 2 Jungle (1997), Jack and Jill (2011), Sully (2016). For her role in French Exit (2020) she received critical acclaim and an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

4. Ilse Werner (1921 - 2005)

With an HPI of 54.74, Ilse Werner is the 4th most famous Indonesian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Ilse Werner (German: [ˈɪl.zə ˈvɛʁ.nɐ] ; born Ilse Charlotte Still, 11 July 1921 – 8 August 2005) was a Dutch-German actress, singer, and musical whistler.

5. Christine Hakim (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 54.35, Christine Hakim is the 5th most famous Indonesian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Herlina Christine Natalia Hakim (born 25 December 1956) is an Indonesian actress, film producer, and activist. Born to a devout Muslim family of mixed-race background in Jambi, she grew up in Yogyakarta, aspiring to be an architect or psychologist. This changed after she was discovered by Teguh Karya for his 1973 movie Cinta Pertama, a role which garnered her a Citra Award for Best Actress and convinced her to follow a career in acting. Since then, she has starred in numerous films, including 1977's Badai Pasti Berlalu and 1988's Tjoet Nja' Dhien; she also had a minor role in the 2010 Hollywood movie Eat Pray Love. As of 2011, she has won six Citra Awards, received a lifetime achievement award from the Cinemanila International Film Festival, and served as a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. Hakim began branching out from acting in 1998, beginning with roles as producer of Daun di Atas Bantal and Pasir Berbisik and eventually spreading to documentary filmmaking and being an activist for education and autism. Beginning in 2008, she has served as Indonesia's goodwill ambassador to UNESCO, focusing on educational issues.

6. Agnez Mo (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 53.87, Agnez Mo is the 6th most famous Indonesian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 147 different languages.

Agnes Monika (born 1 July 1986), known professionally as AGNEZ MO (stylized in all caps), is an Indonesian singer, songwriter, and actress. Born and raised in Jakarta, she was initially known as a child artist. At the age of six, she began recording songs for the first of her children's music albums, while she also became a Television Host for several kids TV show's then she transformed into a professional singer who had an extraordinary influence on pop culture in Indonesia. In between her schedule as a teenage artist, Agnez often trained her vocal skills as a Gospel singer at a Church in Jakarta. She released her first teen album And the Story Goes in 2003 of which three songs on this music album being in the topped picked position music chart of MTV Indonesia and VH1 Indonesia, which catapulted her name in the Indonesian music industry. Her success in Indonesia encouraged her to target the international music scene. In 2010, she became a host red carpet for American Music Awards, which made her the first and only Indonesian singer ever be a part of this event. In early 2020, She received an award as Top Social Artist given by Billboard Indonesia after an assessment of hers artistic performance, strong influence on the music industry and social aspects as well as charity acts that had been carried out and also engagement on social media platform, the award was given on the Billboard Indonesia Music Award ceremony. Previously on 2018, in program of 'Artist of The Week' Billboard Vietnam give her honorary as "The Best Southeast Asia Artist - Indonesia" Agnez is an anti-drug ambassador in Asia and the ambassador of MTV EXIT in combating human trafficking. Agnez has also claimed the title of entrepreneur, showcasing her own fashion line ANYE, APP, Digital Marketplace, and partnering with cell phone manufacturer Vivo to create her own limited-edition line of devices. In 2022, she made a history by becoming the first and only Indonesian artist to be immortalized through a wax statue at Madame Tussauds museums in two countries. On 2023, she was selected for representing Indonesia at the Grammy Global Spin, and became the first Indonesian musician to perform solo at the event. Her song "Patience" (2024) reached into US Billboard Chart that is R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Adult R&B Songs, beforehand single music "Overdose" (2018) featuring Chris Brown has been reached on Hot R&B Songs, and at the same year, Agnez was trusted to be the first Indonesian singer to appear at the Billboard Live Session event which was broadcast live from Billboard headquarters in New York. The quality of her music and stage act has been widely recognized so that she became the first Indonesian singer to be nominated as Best Asia Pacific Act and Best Southeast Asia Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards and Rolling Stone Indonesia gave her the title as a "Young Diva of Indonesia" in its article and she was the first female soloist singer to be featured on the cover of the magazine. Apart from being the Indonesian artist with the highest income, her artistic quality has been recognized with several award, and gave her the position as the Indonesian female singer with the most awards, such as over 190 awards, including 18 Anugerah Musik Indonesia, 8 Panasonic Awards, 2 Indonesian Television Awards, 5 Nickelodeon Indonesia Kids' Choice Awards, 4 MTV Indonesia Awards, 2 Mnet Asian Music Awards, 1 iHeartRadio Music Awards, 1 LINE Indonesia Awards and World Music Award for World Best Indonesia Entertainer

7. Iko Uwais (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 53.06, Iko Uwais is the 7th most famous Indonesian Actor. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Uwais Qorny (pronounced [uˌwaɪh ˈkɔrni]), known professionally as Iko Uwais, (born 12 February 1983) is an Indonesian actor, stuntman, fight choreographer, and martial artist. He is best known for acting in the action films Merantau (2009), The Raid (2011), The Raid 2 (2014), Headshot (2016), Mile 22 (2018), The Night Comes for Us (2018), Stuber (2019), and the Netflix series Wu Assassins (2019–22).

8. Joe Taslim (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 47.25, Joe Taslim is the 8th most famous Indonesian Actor. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Johannes "Joe" Taslim (born 23 June 1981) is an Indonesian actor, martial artist, and model. He was a member of Indonesia’s national judo team from 1997 to 2009, becoming a three-time medalist (one Silver and two Bronze) at the Southeast Asian Games, and a Gold medalist at the 2008 Pekan Olahraga Nasional. His film acting roles include Sergeant Jaka in The Raid (2011), Jah in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Manas in Star Trek Beyond (2016), and Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat (2021) and Mortal Kombat 2 (2025). He has a starring role as Li Yong on the television series Warrior.

9. Amara (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 47.08, Amara is the 9th most famous Indonesian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Tuwuh Adijatitesih Amaranggana (born 8 July 1975), better known by her stage name Amara or Mara is an Indonesian singer, actress, and model.

10. Krisdayanti (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 46.47, Krisdayanti is the 10th most famous Indonesian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Kris Dayanti (born 24 March 1975), often written mononymously as Krisdayanti (or shortened as KD), is an Indonesian politician, singer and actress. She is the younger sister of Yuni Shara, another Indonesian singer. She is the daughter of Trenggono and Rachma Widadiningsih. At the age of 9, she sang a song for the movie Megaloman. Three years later, she released her first album, Biasa Saja, together with the soundtrack album for Catatan Si Emon. While still in high school, Krisdayanti participated in numerous singing and modeling competitions. In 1991, she became one of the finalists in the GADIS magazine's cover model search, called GADIS Sampul. With the help of Younky Soewarno and Chris Pattikawa, Krisdayanti participated in the 1992 Asia Bagus star-search program, eventually winning the grand prize at the Asia Bagus film festival in Japan. As a result of her success in the competition, Krisdayanti recorded an album in Singapore with Pony Canyon in 1993. She also recorded a single "Show Me the Way to Your Heart" which was released in some Asian countries including Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan. In 1997, she was chosen as "The Best of Asia Bagus". She also won several awards, such as Best Indonesian Album awards for "Menghitung Hari" at 1999 Anugerah Industri Muzik, "Most Wanted Female Artist" and "Most Wanted Indonesian Video" awards for "Menghitung Hari" at MTV Southeast Asia, Best Pop Album awards for "Cinta" at 1997 Anugerah Musik Indonesia, and Most Favorite Female for "Jangan Pergi, Yang Kumau" at 2002 MTV Indonesia Awards. And also several nominations, such as Best Female Supporting Role for "Abad 21" at the 1996 Festival Sinetron Indonesia, International Viewer's Choice Awards for "Menghitung Hari" at 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, and Most Favorite Female for "Mengenangmu" at 2006 MTV Indonesia Awards. During 2004, Krisdayanti held eight concerts in different cities, including some international ones. Her hit songs and constant concert performances have caused her to be considered the most expensive Indonesian artist to hire for singing or acting, with Swa magazine writing that she earns more than the president of Indonesia. In 1996, she was considered by Tabloid Bintang as one of Indonesia's 6 most prominent female television stars, and in 2007 Globe Asia ranked her 31st in its list of the 99 influential women in Indonesia. She married Anang Hermansyah, a musician from Jember, East Java, in 1996. Together they had one son (Azriel Hermansyah) and one daughter (Aurelie Hermansyah). During their marriage, tabloids often reported rumors of Krisdayanti being linked to Dicky Wahyudi, Tohpati's guitarist, dan Ari Sigit, a grandson of ex-president Suharto. All rumors were denied by Krisdayanti, who said that her relationship with her husband was fine. They divorced in mid-August 2009, upon Yanti's request. After divorcing Anang Hermansyah, she reportedly started a relationship with Raul Lemos, a businessman from East Timor. On 20 March 2011, she married Raul Lemos and she had another girl on 5 September 2011 by cesarean section. The name of the girl is Arianna Amora Lemos, which means "Diamond with Full of Love". She then said that she was retiring from the entertainment industry to live in East Timor as a housewife. However, she retracted the statement and said that she wanted to continue singing until old age, similar to Indonesian top senior singer, Titiek Puspa.

People

Pantheon has 16 people classified as Indonesian actors born between 1887 and 1995. Of these 16, 11 (68.75%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Indonesian actors include Laura Gemser, Christine Hakim, and Agnez Mo. The most famous deceased Indonesian actors include Lil Dagover, Valerie Mahaffey, and Ilse Werner. As of April 2024, 16 new Indonesian actors have been added to Pantheon including Laura Gemser, Lil Dagover, and Valerie Mahaffey.