The Indonesian pop icon explains why Lila Hoth brought her back to acting.

Reacher star Agnez Mo breaks down her breakout performance and that killer season 4 finale: ‘I earned that s---!’

The Indonesian pop icon explains why Lila Hoth brought her back to acting.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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September 16, 2026 9:00 a.m. ET

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Agnez Mo on ‘Reacher’. Credit:

Courtesy of Prime

- Agnez Mo reacts to the season 4 finale of *Reacher*.

- The Indonesian pop icon returned to acting in her role as “killing machine” Lila Hoth.

- Mo explains why she “earned” all the great reviews that she’s getting.

**This article contains spoilers about season 4 of *Reacher*.**

“I earned that s---!”

That’s how *Reacher* star Agnez Mo is feeling after the end of her incredibly successful run on the fourth season of the Prime Video hit. An Indonesian pop icon with 31 million followers on Instagram, the former child star led several TV shows as a teenager in Indonesia, but hadn’t acted in over a decade. And she couldn’t have envisioned a better first impression on American audiences than *Reacher* and Lila Hoth.

But Mo kept her credentials a secret during the audition process, as she wanted to feel like she landed the major antagonist role, opposite Alan Ritchson, based solely on her talent, not her social media stats. That is what makes the overwhelming reaction from audiences that much sweeter.

“I just feel so incredibly lucky,” Mo tells **. “To see that people love Lila and started fancasting me to Marvel and DC and *Naruto*, it wasn’t something that I could have ever predicted. It made me feel like my hard work paid off.”

Season 4 begins with Reacher (Ritchson) on a Philadelphia subway ride, during which he comes across a troubled woman, who kills herself upon his approach. Reacher held onto her USB drive, and he’s soon approached by Lila Hoth (Mo) and her mother, Amisha (Anggun).

Claiming to suffer from leukemia, Lila tells Reacher that her mother was impregnated in Indonesia by a U.S. soldier-turned-congressman, John Sampson (Marc Blucas). Using the information from the USB, Lila hopes to blackmail the presidential frontrunner into participating in a bone marrow transplant. Reacher seeks to assist Lila and protects her from others in search of the USB, until he catches her in a lie. Lila then confesses she’s actually a journalist investigating Sampson and other members of the military for the killing of protestors.

Agnez Mo, Alan Ritchson, and Anggun.

But there was one final twist involving Lila’s true identity and purpose. The fourth episode concluded with the discovery that some innocent victims were killed by a karambit, an Indonesian curved knife. Simultaneously, a couple of tough guys, armed with knives, threaten Lila and Amisha to give up the USB. Lila reacts by saying, “Knives, so no one can hear the gunshot,” and then she and Amisha whip out their karambits, killing all the men. It turns out that the USB is the key to completing the production of a deadly chemical weapon and its antidote, which Lila and Amisha are looking to sell to the highest bidder.

Reacher thwarts the women’s initial attempt to publicly showcase the weapon, and he tracks them to an abandoned restaurant in Wednesday’s finale, “Cut.” Once he’s done dominating their goons, Reacher faces off with Amisha and Lila, the latter of whom he slept with when he believed her to be a journalist. Once Reacher throws Amisha out of a window, it’s time for him to tussle with Lila, one-on-one. “I don’t know what I enjoy more: f---ing you or killing you,” she declares, only for Reacher to then stab her with a needle full of the chemical and reply, “I know which one I like more.” Lila dies, and Reacher stumbles outside, bloodied and beaten, eventually collapsing. Amisha — somehow still alive — emerges, ready to finish Reacher, whose police pals show up and apprehend her.

To recap her juicy villain turn, we chatted with Mo about playing many versions of the same character, and showing that Reacher is human.

**: After initially having to hide the true details of your character, how much of a relief is it to be free to talk about it all?**

**AGNEZ MO:** Finally! I was like, oh my god, I can’t wait until episode 4 and 5 come out so I don’t have to try and explain all this in a secret Morse code.

**What does it mean to you to see how strongly people have been reacting to you and your performance?**

I just feel so incredibly lucky. But, at the same time, I wouldn’t call it luck because I earned that s---! [*Laughs*.] I worked so hard for it. I was genuinely excited that I earned the role through the audition process, so it wasn’t because I already have a big name over in Asia in the music business. I hadn’t really acted in over 15 years, and stepping back into the world on a show as established and loved as *Reacher*, yes, it was exciting, but also intimidating. And to see that people love Lila and started fancasting me to Marvel and DC and *Naruto*, it wasn’t something that I could have ever predicted. It made me feel like my hard work paid off.

Agnez Mo on ‘Reacher’.

Shane Mahood/Prime

**Why was this the show, character, and time for you to make your return to acting?**

What really pulled me into Lila was the layers; it’s something that gives you so much to play with. Ten years ago, I was more focused on my music, but when I started kind of trying to step into Hollywood ... the conversation was different. There were scripts they wanted me to audition to star in, but they were very stereotypical, so I felt like, *Is this how I’m going to make my debut?* Because there’s no second chance at giving that first impression. I think people now started to see that Asians can play a layered character, like, she doesn’t have to be just exotic or nerdy. I mean, an Asian can be a badass, or just a human being. With the success of *Crazy Rich Asians* and *Beef*, I started seeing all these complicated and complex stories where it wasn’t just about the Asian character being Asian. Finally I felt like this was the time for me to get back into acting, because I never stopped loving it; it really was just the industry.

The first time I auditioned, I wanted to feel like I deserved this, so I didn’t tell them, “Oh, I’m this big singer, I’ve done this and that.” Only after I passed the chemistry test did they find out that I actually had a fan base. Our first call after I booked the job, [creator] Nick Santora was like, “Sorry for my ignorance, I didn’t know. And I don’t care if you have a million followers.” In my heart, I was like, “Well, it’s actually 31 million, but it’s okay.” [*Laughs*.] I told Nick, “Never apologize for that s---, I needed that reassurance.” To find out that I booked the job without the creator and studio thinking of the massive reach I have was a f---ing compliment!

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**What was your approach to how you wanted to play the different versions of Lila that we get throughout this season? I’m sure you want to leave some breadcrumbs early on but you also don’t want to give away who she really is ahead of the big reveal.**

It was a lot of going back and forth with Nick and the writers and directors. For the first episode, I asked, “Do you want her to look really believable as a damsel in distress?” and he was like, “People need to love you and feel sorry for you.” On episode 3, Nick told me, “When you tell them that you’re a journalist, you have to make sure that people can almost tell that you’re lying, but they can’t really tell what it is.” I couldn’t be too believable, because she already trained herself to be a damsel in distress, and the journalist was more like, how can I lie out of this situation?

Then, in the intimacy scene, we played around with different directions, like one where she has a genuine connection with Reacher, but then another where she starts to show this manipulative side. After episode 4, I had to feel like, finally I get to be myself! She has been groomed to be a killing machine by Amisha since she was 10 years old, so she doesn’t know any other emotion but to kill. And even though it wasn’t stated in the script, you might as well think that she’s half-sociopath or psychopath.

**A lot was riding on the turn that Lila makes when she drops the charade and pulls out her karambit knife to fight those guys at the end of episode 4. Were you feeling any pressure to really nail that just right?**

The homework that I gave myself was the shot right before that, when I said, “Knives, so no one can hear the gunshot.” That dialogue was so important. There were some opinions that people couldn’t know about her until the very ending, but then I fought for it, like, “No, believe me, this will be the iconic part.” And I’m glad that they let me do that because if I played it kind of worried, then it’s not gonna hit the same when I take out the karambit. Because, in that room, there’s only Lila and Amisha and the other four people, so she didn’t need to act. That’s the moment where she’s like, *Oh, okay, you wanna play*? So there’s the little smirk because the reason she chose the karambit is so no one can hear the gunshot. That bit of dialogue really changed the dynamic between Lila and the audience.

Agnez Mo and Anggun on ‘Reacher’.

Courtesy of Prime

**How much fun was it to play someone who is just pure evil? Like, the minute she took off her mask, to use your words, she was a “killing machine.”**

This is the first time that I actually played a real villain, and I found it more exciting. At a certain point, I had to switch off my own empathy as actor, because I was like, *oh man, but Lila was groomed*! There’s this one scene where Amisha got impatient about something, and Lila was just like, “Hey, you got this,” and you could see a little bit of the good heart that Lila actually has — obviously beyond the killing and all that. But that was the love that she has only for Amisha. So I hope that people could see that she’s also somewhat a victim in the story. Amisha kept reminding her, “Girl, this is a job, we’re here for the money,” and if someone who has been your mother figure all your life kept giving that information to you, then, at some point, you’re like, “F--- it, you’re right.”

**Speaking of important dialogue, I got such a kick out of your delivery of “I don’t know what I enjoy more: f---ing you or killing you,” and then how it is turned back on you. You had to really bring it in two fights versus Alan in the finale, and so what was it like going all-out for Lila’s final moments?**

What’s so rewarding is the fact that we trained so hard for those fighting scenes. For Alan, it’s like a walk in the park, because this is what he does. I have a martial arts background, I’ve done Muay Thai and boxing before, and I’ve always been active physically with dance, so I made a promise to myself that, unless it’s a very dangerous scene where you could be a liability for the studio, I want to be able to do it myself. And I did 90 percent of it. I planned to deliver that line of dialogue either very flirtatious or just tired, but it ended up being with so much rage, and I don’t think I would’ve been able to deliver it that way if I hadn’t had the adrenaline rush from all the stunts. So every bruise was worth it.

**Lila met her end, but do you take some pride in that I don’t know if anyone has ever bloodied and beaten Reacher up like that on the show? And then the fact that she also tricked him multiple times, too!**

What I love about this season is that finally people see that he’s also human. There’s one scene where he’s hanging by the bridge, and he said, “I’m tired.” To me, that line is so important, because, at the end of the day, he’s not Superman, he doesn’t have superpowers — he’s just incredibly strong. Because he’s human, Lila was able to set that trap for Reacher. I think there was a little truth about their connection, and that connection somehow “weakened” Reacher. You gotta show some weaknesses and strengths to make it such a complex character and story. I’m really curious as to how he’s going to bring this traumatizing experience into season 5 and onwards, because this might be something where he’s like, man, I can’t be played anymore.

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