People's Artist Lan Huong recounts her trauma while playing "Hanoi Baby" half a century ago

Dan Tri reporter made an appointment with People's Artist Lan Huong on an autumn afternoon in Hanoi , on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Capital Liberation Day.

Still with those round, black, expressive eyes, People's Artist Lan Huong at the age of 10 seemed to be returning and telling us about her memories of Hanoi Baby, about the summer of Hanoi in 1973.

“I strive tirelessly to keep the name “Hanoi Baby”

Half a century has passed since the release of the movie “Hanoi Baby”, many people are still curious, how did People's Artist Lan Huong come to this role and get involved with the 7th art?

– My maternal grandfather was in a theater troupe. I also grew up in a film studio when my grandfather and grandmother worked there. My paternal uncle, Meritorious Artist Luu Xuan Thu, was an actor before switching to holding a camera…

Then my mother, if she didn't pass the Polytechnic University entrance exam, would study printing or do some work in a film studio like the family's traditional profession.

At that time, I often took photos for film classes, gradually exposed to movies and liked them very much. And perhaps because of that, the love of cinema was instilled in me from a young age, when I was only 3-4 years old.

At that time, many veteran directors like Ms. Bach Diep and Ms. Duc Hoan who studied in Russia really liked me and many times invited me to act in movies, but my grandparents did not agree.

When I was 6-7 years old, Ms. Duc Hoan was excited to let me play the role of Ty in the movie Chi Dau . However, for some reasons, the movie was postponed. I still remember, from the moment she saw me, Ms. Duc Hoan called me "divine" and commented that I had a very cinematic face.

People also often call me "Cosette" (the orphan girl in the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - PV).

Director Hai Ninh (People's Artist Hai Ninh - PV) has been a close friend of my family for a long time. One time, he came to my grandmother's house to visit and kept staring at me. He told my grandmother: "This girl has beautiful eyes, sad eyes - very cinematic. She will be a good actress in the future!"

Until 1972, he wrote a movie script called An Duong Baby , later changed to Kham Thien Baby , but still found it unsuitable, so he finally changed the name for the third time to Hanoi Baby. At that time, he remembered and aimed at me - the little girl with sad eyes at that time - to play the role of Hanoi Baby. At that time, I was 10 years old and had returned to live with my mother.

Around January 1973, he came to my house to persuade my mother to let me audition, but she strongly objected. She did not like it and thought that acting was a meaningless profession, with glory and praise for young people and loneliness in old age. My mother only wanted me to do something stable and secure until old age.

Finally, People's Artist Hai Ninh had to persuade my mother for a long time before she agreed to let me audition. In her eyes, I was a shy and weak girl, so she thought that even if I tried, I would fail the role.

I remember the day of casting, standing in front of the camera, I got into character and talked a lot. I talked quickly about my passion for cinema and my dream of becoming famous like Ms. Tra Giang (People's Artist Tra Giang - PV) when she had just finished filming Parallel 17 Days and Nights . I also told you how, when I was only 5 years old, I watched the movies: Quiet on the Don, War and Peace ...

My mother was surprised because at home, no matter how hard I tried to talk, I wouldn’t talk. That’s why I was nicknamed “Hen” since I was little. I passed the first round of the preliminary round so naturally.

In the second round, when I met Mr. Thế Dân (NSND Thế Dân – PV), who was the cameraman for the film Em bé Hà Nội at that time, he said that I was not as beautiful on screen as I was in real life. He said that in real life I looked very “Western” but in the film it was different. Mr. Hải Ninh heard that and immediately dismissed it, saying that the children at that time were so rustic and shabby, and if they were beautiful, their features would not match.

Half a month later, I was not called, the whole family thought I had slipped. My mother also tried to cut my long hair down to my ears to have an excuse that I was not suitable for the role of a Hanoi girl. At that time, my hair was hip-length, and it looked beautiful whether it was braided on the sides or tied up high.

The day the crew finalized the role, Mr. Hai Ninh came to my house and "almost fainted" when he saw that my long hair was gone, while the role of the Hanoi girl at that time was to have two pigtails and wear a straw hat.

Until one day when I came home from school, I saw Uncle Hai Ninh sitting in the house talking to my mother. He firmly said: “I will wait for half a month, let your hair grow long and then film”. However, my mother still firmly refused.

Later, there was a handwritten letter from Mr. Tran Duy Hung - Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee - sent to my mother, with the general idea that this was a commemorative film about Hanoi and the film crew thought that only Lan Huong had the ability to play that role, only then did she change her decision.

However, my mother set a condition that I could only act in this one movie.

People's Artist Lan Huong in the role of "Hanoi Baby" Ngoc Ha (Photo: Document).

Playing the role of “Hanoi Baby” at the age of 10, People’s Artist Lan Huong played the role with such ecstasy, as if “possessed”. Surely after 5 decades, there are many stories from filming that still haunt you, unforgettable?

– I remember clearly, in December 1972, when the US sent B52s to bomb Hanoi, I was only 9 years old, living with my grandparents on Hoang Hoa Tham street.

I don’t know what the memories of those days are like for other 9-year-olds, but mine was filled with fear. I still remember the first night the US dropped bombs. It was so sudden, my whole family only had time to see the rain of bombs, the rumbling of lightning, then the screams, the cries, the howls coming from all over the streets.

My family frantically rushed to the personal shelter. Early the next morning, the whole family evacuated to Binh Da. The city was devastated and in ruins. Everywhere there were cries and horror. Every day the American B52s temporarily stopped bombing, we all breathed a sigh of relief…

The movie Hanoi Baby was filmed in June-July 1973, about half a year after the Dien Bien Phu in the air battle, so many places had not yet been cleared.

In the film, there was a scene where I was walking around bomb craters looking for a house while the film crew was in another place, the camera was hanging on a crane far away. I was alone there, surrounded by silence, desolation, and ruins.

From the real horror memories of the winter bombing in 1972, I acted that scene with all my fear. Thinking back, I am still scared.

Another scene that scared and haunted me was the scene where a car was moving and I was running parallel to the wheel. People stood outside watching me act and couldn't help but shiver because even though the car was moving slowly, an accident could happen in a split second. Luckily, I was safe and was praised because that scene was so well acted.

People's Artist Lan Huong in a conversation with Dan Tri reporter.

Any happy memories like salary, receiving fame as a child... when acting in "Hanoi Baby", can People's Artist Lan Huong share?

– The movie was a long time ago so I don’t remember exactly how much I was paid at that time, my mother received it and kept it. I only know that after finishing the movie, my mother bought me a bicycle to go to school and a pretty good watch from my movie salary.

I still remember the excitement at that time. Every time I went to film, there was a car just to pick me up, and there was even a person in charge of buying me whatever I wanted to eat, instead of eating the same portion as everyone else in the crew.

Knowing that I like ice cream, a thermos of ice cream was always prepared. The filming lasted for a whole year, so to ensure my studies, on the days I missed school to go to filming, the teacher would come to my house to help me with my cultural studies.

I was so engrossed in filming that many days I had asthma attacks, but when I heard someone from the film crew come and announce that the filming was over, I immediately recovered.

Being famous at a young age made me feel very “cool”. In class, my friends would ask me questions, I was happy and also… very pretentious (laughs).

There was also a story, people were gossiping, saying that the girl who played the role of the Hanoi baby died of heart disease, asthma,… while I was standing right next to her (laughs).

Exactly 50 years later, when mentioning People’s Artist Lan Huong, the audience still only remembers a pure “Hanoi Baby” in the middle of the desolate Hanoi at that time. And many people also think that she was “killed” in that very first role – when she was only 10 years old?

– Many people ask me if I feel sad? On the contrary, I appreciate that the audience still calls me Lan Huong “Little Hanoi”. It is not only a matter of time but also a process and an artistic path I have gone through.

In the life of an actor, everyone wants to have a role of a lifetime and to be remembered by the audience. If that happens, I consider it happiness and luck.

I have been working tirelessly for many years for the name “Hanoi Baby” and to keep the name “Hanoi Baby”.

And I also think, without my marks and successes on the artistic path, the name "Hanoi Baby" would not have been so profound and stayed with me and the audience until today.

“I have worked tirelessly to keep the name “Hanoi Baby”.

People's Artist Lan Huong

“Hanoi is always special to me”

Hanoi during the years of the Dien Bien Phu in the Air battle was a terrifying experience for People's Artist Lan Huong. And now, 70 years after the Capital Liberation Day, what is your impression of Hanoi?

– To me, Hanoi is always special. In war or peace, Hanoi still has its own unique beauty.

70 years after Liberation Day, Hanoi seems to have "changed its skin" a lot with modern, civilized constructions but never lost its inherent heritage values.

Hoan Kiem Lake – the place associated with our childhood, sometimes we would go to the lake shore to eat ice cream, the heart of the Capital – still retains that green color, still sacred like that.

Indeed, I go to many places and see that Hanoi is still a safe capital, a city of peace.

The peaceful daily life of People's Artist Lan Huong.

So is "Hanoi Baby" Lan Huong then and now much different?

– Maybe the only difference is that I have more wrinkles on my face and I have gained weight (laughs). But I still feel like I have kept the features of a Hanoi child, the same eyes and smile as before – many people can always feel it.

And especially still love cinema, love theater and art to the point of madness.

Loving art and Hanoi so much, it seems that Lan Huong's love for Hanoi through her roles or as a director is not much. Is that something that makes you regret?

– It’s true that apart from the film Hanoi Baby , I haven’t done anything really big for Hanoi. I also want to make an official play about Hanoi, but I haven’t had the chance yet. I’m still waiting for an opportunity to come to me.

How is People's Artist Lan Huong's retired life?

– My life is just as normal as everyone else’s. My salary is over 8 million VND and my husband’s (Meritorious Artist Tat Binh – PV) is 10.3 million VND, I just wait until the month to receive it. I eat and spend very simply, nothing fancy.

My husband often cooks for me. At this age, I like the smell of incense. I have no regrets, I just still wish, yearn and wait to make another movie…

Thank you People's Artist Lan Huong for sharing!

Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giai-tri/nsnd-lan-huong-ke-noi-am-anh-khi-dong-em-be-ha-noi-nua-the-ky-truoc-20241010091555226.htm