Tora Sudiro

Tora Sudiro, forever known to Indonesian audiences as the closeted gay protagonist in 2003's Arisan!, stumbled into the acting world after a chance encounter with director Nia DiNata while working for a Jakarta advertising agency. While his acting performance was panned by critics his on screen kiss with actor Surya Saputra earned Sudiro the Film Festival Indonesia 2004 Best Actor award and shot his meteor to stardom. Sudiro was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, when the World War II movie Tora! Tora! Tora! was playing in local movie theaters, but his businessman father and model mother quickly divorced. His mother was subsequently killed in a car accident when he was seven. He lived with his grandmother for a few years until moving back with his father. His high school years were spent in Australia and New Zealand. The patchwork of tattoos covering his arms and shoulders, revealed in Arisan!, tell of his teenage aspirations to be in a rock band. Since his acting debut he was featured in Teddy Soeriaatmadja's surreal Banyu Biru (2005), has performed in various TV programs including Malam Pertama, Dunia D, Bunda, and Extravaganza, and hit the stage in "The Kidnapping of Prince Pollux" in July 2005 at the Jakarta Convention Center.