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Vietnamese movie stars need to work outside the film industry as their roles pay comparatively less than they did 15 years ago.
Ngo Thanh Van and Johnny Tri Nguyen, stars of The Rebel (Photo courtesy of Chanh Phuong Film)
Most local film stars live off earnings made modeling, singing, hosting or in business because their acting salaries are relatively small, says HK Film Managing Director Nguyen Trinh Hoan.
Though they are bound by their employers to not disclose how much they get paid for movie roles, actors often complain that they earn less than artists in other sectors.
Well-known actor Quyen Linh says, “I can not support my small family with earnings from acting. My MC job pays much more.”
Vietnamese American star Johnny Tri Nguyen – rumored to be the highest paid actor in Vietnam – says actors’ low pay is due to the small size of the local movie industry.
Nguyen recently stared in HK Film’s Nu hon than chet (Kiss of Death), whose VND16 billion (US$1 million) in ticket sales this year made it the highest grossing film in Vietnamese movie history.
He says Vietnamese producers can only put out 5-6 features a year, several dozen-times less than Hollywood.
Even wealthy moguls don’t want to spend more on making films as the lack of cinemas in the country hinders their profits.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s most populous area, over eight million citizens share only five standard cinemas.
Most of these theaters favor Western movies.
This wasn’t a problem 15 years ago.
In the 1990s, local actors were paid better as foreign films were more heavily restricted in local cinemas and on television.
Without having to compete with foreign pictures, investing in Vietnamese film wasn’t as risky and there was relatively more money to be made.
Top movie stars of the day like Viet Trinh and Ly Hung pocketed some VND30-40 million ($1,875-2,500) per feature.
Though some stars of today net more money, their higher salaries have yet to compensate for the country’s six-fold increase in inflation since the 1990s.
Actress Minh Thu says her starring role in the 2002 smash-hit Gai nhay (Bar Girls) only paid her enough money for clothes and make-up.
The director of a state-owned production company said that actors and actresses now receive an average of VND20 million ($1,250) for staring in a feature, which takes at least a half year to complete.
The same actors are paid an average of VND2 million for a 45-minute episode in a TV series.
Ngo Thanh Van is said to be the country’s highest-earning actress.
She received VND75 million ($4,690) for her lead in Dong mau anh hung (The Rebel) because the feature was produced by a Vietnamese American film crew for over $1.5 million.
But the average expenditure of a local feature is only some VND3 billion ($187,500).
With few opportunities to star in films, screen actors would rather compete with one another for roles than ask for higher pay.
“Once the actor or actress is interested in the role, they don’t worry about money,” said HK Film’s Hoan.
