Iko Uwais was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Maisyaroh and Mustapha Kamaluddin. His grandfather, H. Achmad Bunawar, was a master of silat, an Indonesian
traditional martial art, and founded a silat school. Iko himself has been learning silat since he was 10 years old. He became
National Champion in 2005 in Silat Demonstration category. Iko's talent
as a martial arts actor was discovered by Welsh film Director, Gareth
Evans, who visited Iko's Silat school for a documentary in 2007. Evans
then asked Iko to quit his daytime job as a driver in a
telecommunications company and join Evans' movie production company as
the leading actor in his movies.
Before becoming an actor, he worked as an operational driver in a telecommunication company.
Iko Uwais was once a soccer player in a local Jakarta club.
Many Indonesians still mistakenly assume that Iko is a Minang (native West Sumateran) because of his role in Merantau. In real life, Iko is native Jakartan.
He has phobia to a popular Indonesian food snack named Kerupuk Putih.
Is the father of two daughters, named Atreya Syahla Putri Uwais and Aneska Layla Putri Uwais.