Fir Rahman hopes his latest role will score brownie points with action enthusiasts who only know him from his dramas.
Operandi Gerhana (or Phantom Squad) is now streaming on meWATCH and Netflix. It follows the exploits of Omar (Fir) and Yusof (Malaysia’s Kamal Adli), two undercover cops leading an anti-triad task force in 1955 Singapore.
The six-part, filmed-in-Batam Malay language series also stars Jamie Aditya, Carmen Soo, Alaric Tay, Cassandra Spykerman, Aaron Mossadeg and Shane Mardjuki.
While Fir is no stranger to action (he appeared in the 2018 Malaysian film Polis Evo 2) Operandi Gerhana was entirely a different beast. “This is more jialat (terrible)!” the Singaporean actor told 8days.sg over Zoom.
In Polis Evos 2, Fir’s badassery was limited to handling firearms, but in Operandi Gerhana, he had to jump down from the second floor (“When you look down, your b***s are in your throat”), outrun a fireball (“You can feel the heat and all”), and throw a few punches here and there.
Fir recalls performing a fight sequence with a stuntman, a real-life silat competitor, who really took his job seriously. So much so that the Lion Mums alum urged him to dial down his intensity: “I told him, ‘Bro, bro, this is just acting.’”
Occasionally, the play-pretend would inevitably end up real. “I accidentally punched a stuntman on his forehead and he had this baluku (bump),” he said.
“I also injured my finger which took two months to heal completely.”