- After "Banh duc co xuong", People's Artist Minh Chau has not acted in any movies for the past 10 years. Why has she been absent from the screen for so long?
Firstly, my age does not allow me to make many more films (People's Artist Minh Chau is 68 years old this year). I cannot accept long-running TV series due to health reasons. And furthermore, I suddenly feel bored, the hardship and many things accumulate so I do not like to accept mass productions anymore. In the past, I was very enthusiastic, sometimes in one year I accepted several films at the same time like Provincial Party Secretary and Going Through the Stormy Sea Day.
People's Artist Minh Chau looks youthful at the age of 68. (Photo: Quynh An).
- But when going out, it seems that People's Artist Minh Chau is still enthusiastic...
(Laughs) Well, going out is fine... I just drove across Vietnam from Hanoi to Saigon with some friends to combine work and going out. I think going out is different from going to work because my mind is free and I'm not stressed because I have to worry about learning lines or costumes and all that.
People's Artist Minh Chau and Meritorious Artist Quoc Tuan in the movie "Cu Li Never Cry". Photo: Producer
- So what made you accept the role in the movie "Coolie Never Cry"?
Because before that, I had made a few films with my director friend Pham Ngoc Lan. The first reason is because of friendship and the second is because I always support young people. Seeing them work hard, I naturally feel sorry for them, so sometimes I don't want to accept, but because of love, I have to agree, not because I am greedy.
Working with Lan, a young man who is older than the elderly, sometimes Lan's pickiness is good for me. I have to try, try harder tomorrow than today and always have to think of many acting options for each scene to please the director. Lan's way of working is very compatible because I am also a picky person.
Sometimes after each day of filming The Never Crying Coolie, I would come home and think about it so much that I couldn’t sleep. That way of working was like draining myself and I think the director was the same. I once asked if I didn’t take the role of Mrs. Nguyen, who would Lan invite? He thought for a long time but couldn’t give an answer to my sudden question. Lan said he was very impressed with my eyes when he watched the movie The Extra when he was 12 years old. So later when he dropped out of architecture to study cinema, he said he had to invite Ms. Chau, so you could say it was fate.
People's Artist Minh Chau was emotional when talking about actor Quoc Tuan. Photo: Quynh An
- "Cu li khong bao cry" also features the appearance of actor Quoc Tuan - a close colleague of yours at the Vietnam Feature Film Studio. What can People's Artist Minh Chau say about your reunion on screen with Quoc Tuan in the roles of two old friends? Did you know before that Meritorious Artist Quoc Tuan also participated in this film?
For this film, Lan had a hard time choosing actors. Someone filmed a very difficult scene for me but then quit because he couldn't keep up. Even for Quoc Tuan's character, Lan had to invite many people before.
Quoc Tuan and I have a special relationship. When we were still in the same office, we were in a group that often played tennis together. We played together for a long time. One time, I happened to watch a TV program about Quoc Tuan and his son. Quoc Tuan said something that left a lasting impression on me: when he took his son abroad for medical treatment, life pushed him to a situation where he had no money left. And when Quoc Tuan had encountered such extreme hardship, hardship, and pain, he was no longer afraid of anything. That sentence of Quoc Tuan touched my heart.
I cried, cried a lot. The next day when I met Quoc Tuan, I asked : "Honey, why have we been friends for so long without you sharing anything with me or anyone else?" Looking into Quoc Tuan's eyes, I saw that he was a very resilient person and did not want anyone to pity him. I really admired him and thought about what I had to do for him because I knew Quoc Tuan did not agree to accept any help because he was a man full of pride.
I invited some friends to come to my house to visit and meet Bom. I suddenly felt so much love for Bom that he was like my own child and the boy also felt that so he kept hugging Uncle Chau to take pictures. So when we filmed together, he already had sympathy and affection for his younger brother. Quoc Tuan also liked me very much so when we acted together, it was easy to get along. It was also fate because Quoc Tuan had not accepted any films for a long time.
People's Artist Minh Chau cried when talking about Quoc Tuan.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/nsnd-minh-chau-khoc-nghen-khi-nhac-den-dien-vien-quoc-tuan-ar905492.html
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