Elma Theana's hard times no bar to stardom

Elma Theana's hard times no bar to stardom

By Tuti Gintini

JAKARTA (JP): Like mother like daughter, so goes the life of
TV star Elma Theana.

Elma's mother, Waty Siregar, played in titillating films in
the 1970s and danced with snakes in nightclubs. Elma, too, worked
her way from the bottom.

These days, however, you are more likely to find Waty at home,
joining Muslim prayer gatherings and taking care of her
grandchildren.

Elma, 26, said she was very proud of her mother, "whatever her
job was."

Speaking on the set of her latest TV drama Istana Kaca (Glass
Palace) in Kuningan, South Jakarta, Elma said that her mother was
the family's sole breadwinner. Following a divorce, Waty would
take any job going to support her family -- including striptease
dancing. Her mother's spunk to support the family inspired Elma
to earn money from adolescence.

Elma said that from the time she was at junior high school her
mother was very busy. Every night her mother danced in
nightclubs. Her elder sister became a singer, too. She was often
lonely, living in a small rented house located near a fetid canal
in a slum area of Jakarta that her mother rented for Rp 750,000
per year.

"Can you imagine that I lived in such a house? I have led a
bitter life since childhood, moving all the time and staying with
relatives, renting a filthy house ... and the diseases I suffered
were poor people's ones, like scabies, ulcers, warts, diarrhea
and the like," said the actress.

Determined to help her mother, she began to scour newspapers
for job ads. At the age of 12, she became a photo model. A
garment company in Mangga Dua, North Jakarta paid her Rp 2,000 a
photo. They took 60 snaps, she earned Rp 120,000 and was very
happy to go home.

"From childhood I was always earning money for myself. I found
a school, enrolled myself and paid the fees with my own money,"
she said.

Elma was keen to become a star. She was prepared to model for
any product, no matter how small it was, provided it paid. Her
face appeared in commercials for many different things including
jamu traditional medicine, soaps and confectionery.

"I had appeared in around 20 ads when Xonce vitamins hired me
for their (TV) commercial, which eventually got me noted," she
said.

Elma played a toll booth attendant who was asked by a motorist
'Xoncenya mana ?' (Where is the Xonce?).

After this, Elma's career took off, and TV miniseries
(sinetron) offers came flooding in. Before that, her frequent
requests to producers only resulted in insignificant roles in
crowd scenes.

"As an extra, I was only paid Rp 2,000. But never mind, the
most important thing was that I was getting paid," she said.

Once she was tempted by an alluring proposal. "Somebody came
to me offering me a part in a blue film. He said 'what's the use
of having a beautiful face and body if you're not using it to
make big money.'"

Elma thought hard before rejecting the offer. She became
successful and is aware that her fortune didn't just drop from
the sky. She is not jealous of other artists who became popular
easily.

"I led my life like that and everyone has his or her own way
of life," she said.

Neither does she regret she is an actress, and not the teacher
or doctor she once dreamt about. She said she used to like to
gather her neighbors' small children and pretend to be a dentist.
Or she was a doctor, and the children were her patients suffering
from imaginary ulcers.

Her desire to become a doctor did not happen because she left
school after senior high. "But one day I might make my dream come
kind of true by owning a kindergarten and become a director and
teacher as well," she said.

Elma had played numerous roles: mother, career woman, doctor,
teacher, bad woman, mad woman and lesbian. "What role haven't I
played yet? Perhaps a woman with a double personality ?" she
said.

Happy enough

Now Elma says she is happy enough. She has made considerable
money during her career as a TV star. She has a loving husband, a
good career, a house, a luxury car and an 11-month old cute baby
under the care of two babysitters. She is also happy having
parents-in-law whose love for her exceeds the love they have for
their own children.

"I feel my life is accomplished," she said. Elma said she only
met her husband four times prior to marrying him. God willing, he
is the right spouse for me, she thought.

"At that time I felt saturated with my life, which was just
working and working and being the family bread winner. I was
tired. Then I thought, in fact I felt lonely, I wanted to share
my life with a man. I wanted to get married and have a child,"
she said.

Elma said she would not marry a fellow artist "on principle".
She used to date them though, including Anjas Asmara, who is now
Dian Nitami's husband, and Teuku Ryan.

"Fary, my current husband is the fifth man in my life," she
said.

She named her baby Thalia after a Latin soap opera star she
adores. She admits to enjoying watching soaps before getting
married, and Thalia, who played the role of Maria Mercedez, is
her favorite artist.

These days she turns down weekend work so as to spend time
with the baby.

She has no problem with the inevitable loss of popularity that
comes with marriage and child. She said that her income was God's
business. As proof, she keeps receiving offers for commercials
and TV dramas.

This month she will leave for Bangkok for a soap ad. Along
with her husband, child and babysitters.

"In fact, I am not making any profit because the producer is
only paying my expenses. I am happy as I can also go on vacation
with my family," she said.