INTERVIEW: Teen drama mystery Pretty Little Liars gets remake with Indonesian and Malaysian cast

Adapted from the English-language teen mystery drama of the same name, OTT video service Viu rounded up a starring ensemble of top stars from Indonesia and Malaysia to produce a 10-episode remake of Pretty Little Liars, which is available for binge-watching now. Perfect timing, as we continue to practise social distancing at home.

Viu’s adaptation is set in the fictional town of Amerta, Bali, following the lives of four female students whose clique falls apart when their leader, Alissa (Yuki Kato), goes mysteriously missing. A year later, Hanna (Anya Geraldine), Ema (Eyka Farhana), Sabrina (Valerie Thomas) and Aria (Shindy Huang) find themselves reunited when they begin to receive messages from a mysterious figure known as ‘A’, who threatens to expose their darkest secrets.

Virginia Lim, Chief Content Officer of Viu, tells Yahoo Lifestyle SEA that the adaptation of the wildly popular series is a premium production that is both locally and internationally relatable.

“It’s also made easily accessible with subtitling in multiple languages. Our Viu Original productions are a key driver in our broader content strategy where we regularly bring fresh content or adaptations to Viu for our 16 markets, and we continue to do so as we understand that there continues to be a hunger for fresh, quality streaming content especially during this time,” she added.

In a group video call, Yahoo Lifestyle SEA chats with director Emil Heradi, who’s best known for his work on award-winning film Night Bus; as well as Indonesian cast members Yuki Kato, Anya Geraldine, Valerie Thomas, and Shindy Huang.

The original series was helmed by female directors - 36 of them actually. As the first male director for this series, what do you bring to the table?

Emil Heradi: I am honoured. Yes, I am the first male director of Pretty Little Liars but I guess the similarity is I still bring the same spirit of the original series to the table. Everyone has a different perspective; what I am trying to do is to make it darker than the original series.

How so?

Emil: I’m not the only one who’s developing the series. We have a group of writers and one of them is a female, so that helps me see from a different perspective. What I meant to say was, I try to make the mood of the series darker; not just the cinematography or anything like that. I didn’t tell the actors to make it darker; in my mind, I wanted to incorporate that essence in the mood, music, and camera movements.

The show features cliques in school, and the leader of a popular clique goes missing. So I was wondering what were you like in school, and were you a popular girl?

Yuki Kato: Well, I can take a guess; I think Valerie is the most popular girl in school.

Valerie Thomas: Wow, not true (laughs). Growing up I hated the fact that people at school would have cliques. Actually, in an International School in Jakarta, there are really annoying problems like (pauses) I don’t want to bring race into this but the Indonesians would only hang with the Indonesians and the rest would hang out with their respective groups.

That’s what I hated so much about high school; like, being in school and choosing friends. I would never ever consider myself as the popular girl. I would never boss anyone around and I would never try to sound like I'm better than anyone else. Or like I'm more popular than anyone else; I just want to bring it all together. Just making nice friendships, peace, and love.

Shindy Huang: I definitely didn't see myself as a popular girl in school. But especially In Indonesia, we have this ‘grouping’ of people, like what Valerie said.

Although I didn't go to an International school, the grouping was real, especially with the juniors just hanging out with juniors, and the seniors would just hang out the seniors. I guess there were times when I was considered a geek, but there were times when I considered myself not necessarily popular, but maybe getting better as I age.

Yuki: I don't think of myself as a popular girl. When I was in elementary school, I had my own girls squad, but I still played with other friends. I do consider myself a bit quiet. In high school, between my shooting schedule and homework, I would just study and head back to shooting locations, and that’s it.

Anya: I don’t think so. I do gang up with a couple of friends from school, but there’s another popular group in school.

So Yuki, I want to know if you were a fan of the original series and what drew you to the show?

Yuki: Well actually, I watched Pretty Little Liars series back in 2010, probably the first season but I wasn’t watching it closely. After I got cast for the show, I rewatched the first and second season again.

It was really interesting and I got carried away watching it. But I needed the reference as the original character was played by Alison DiLaurentis. So I needed that, you know?

How was it like filming in a beautiful location like Bali for you girls?

Yuki: I think we shot on location for approximately 41 days. Yeah, mostly it was really good because it was shot in Bali and we get to relax. That's why everyone's super relaxed.

Prior to working on this series, all the girls probably had never worked together. Has that changed after Pretty Little Liars?

Shindy: First of all, I am very grateful for having this opportunity. I was initially afraid I wouldn’t be able to get along well with them as I am a rookie. The rest are established actresses and I was afraid they would be cocky but it turns out they are very nice. Everyone was so serious about this project. On the location set, we really treated each other like our character as the chemistry was so strong. Even though we don’t speak to each other on a daily basis (after the project), I do feel the connection with them until now.

Valerie: I am blessed with a great bunch of talented and experienced people to work with. Crazy potential; each and every one of them blessed with their own wonderful aura, charisma, positivity, and great energy. They really contrast one another; so their contrasting abilities and personalities are so beautiful, and individually, that makes it so easy for me. The great part of PLL is building a great chemistry with each of them. When you’re on set, you really need to feel the ambience of everything, and connecting with them is one of my ways.

Anya: Actually, I’ve asked Eyka (Farhana) to go to Bali with me after this coronavirus pandemic (laughs).

Yuki: Since I’m the mysterious girl and I appear in flashbacks, I don’t spend much time on location. On the first day when I flew to Bali for makeup and costume tasks, it was the first time for me to meet all the girls. Eventually we just click right away. I am really grateful we are still maintaining a good friendship, even five months after shooting.

The Viu app can be downloaded for free on the App Store, Google Play, and selected smart TVs, as well as on the web at www.viu.com.