Biografi Ernest Prakasa

Ernest Prakasa is one of the most influential figures in the modern Indonesian entertainment industry, known as comedian, director, screenwriter, producer, actors, and single jokers (stand-up comedian) keturunan Tionghoa-Indonesia. Born on January 29, 1982 in Jakarta, he is now 44 years old (as of January 2026).

Background and education

Ernest was born and raised in Jakarta from a Chinese family. He graduated from Padjadjaran University (Unpad) Bandung with majors International Relations. Fun fact: although his educational background is far from acting or entertainment, Ernest actually started his early career in the music industry before turning to comedy. Many people do not know that before becoming famous as a comic, he had joined an indie band or music group in his youth, showing his creative side that had emerged early.

Religion Christian, and he was married to Meira Anastasia since the year 2008. Their marriage was relatively low-profile compared to other celebrities, and Ernest rarely discussed his personal life openly in the media.

Early Career: Stand-Up Comedy

Ernest's name became widely known after reaching third stage the event Stand Up Comedy Indonesia (SUCI) first season of the year 2011 on Compass TV. His comedic material often raises experiences as a person of Chinese descent in Indonesia, ethnic stereotypes, family, and everyday social issues with a witty, sarcastic, but relatable style. Less known fact: Ernest was among the early comics who dared to “break down " ethnically sensitive topics without insult, which helped pave the way for other descent comics in Indonesian stand-up.

He was also active as an MC and screenwriter before focusing on film.

 

Interesting facts that are rarely known:

• Almost all of his films (except a few) are translucent on top 1 million viewers, even in the post-pandemic era of cinema.
• Ernest founded imaginary production house on 2022, which is now one of the major players in the Indonesian film industry. Imaginary had great success with Kinda Laen and has sold remake rights internationally (e.g. to South Korea for Kinda Laen and other films such as Better Off Dead). Pada 2025, Imajinari mengumumkan slate baru termasuk film action supernatural berlatar Betawi folklore Bandits of Batavia (which Ernest wanted to direct for a long time), concert film Operation Debauchery with Iqbaal Ramadhan, and other projects.
• In 2025, Ernest collaborated for the first time with Netflix through film Forget The Land (release around the end of 2025), a comedy that explores the human side of an actor who is “misunderstood”.
• In Forget The Land, Ernest chose Vino G. Bastian as a lead for deeming him an actor capable of shouldering the lead role well-a rare compliment from Ernest who was often critical.

Unique facts behind the scenes:

• Ever been angry on the set until slamming his personal device until it is badly damaged due to emotional moments.
• In 2020, Ernest exposed the illegal practice of buying and selling cheap Netflix accounts (via carding/stolen credit), showing his “investigative”side beyond comedy.
• He once closed his X (Twitter) account after a tweet controversy, similar to Raditya Dika-he was critical of social issues but eventually chose to withdraw from the platform.

Other Little-Known interesting facts

• Ernest is known to be “fearless” in taking career risks—from music to stand-up, then to big movies, to setting up a hit-making production house.
• Books Ngenesthis became a best-seller and adapted the film, but few know he was also a prolific writer before.
• Amid the huge success of 2025-2026, Ernest remains low-key about personal life, focusing on the “meaningful” work behind comedy.
• He is often called the “man of 9 million viewers” (or more) because of his consistent box office track record.

With success Quite Another a record-breaking sequel set in early 2026, Ernest Prakasa is not just a comic, but a visionary who changed the map of Indonesian comedy cinema—proving local humor can be global and massively profitable.