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Model Thanh Hang proves she can act in Nu Hon Than Chet
Thanh Hang surprised local audiences this Tet as a sharp-tongued but soft-hearted bartender in Nu Hon Than Chet (Kiss of Death), one of Vietnam’s highest-grossing films ever.
Initially famous for her long legs, Hang made a splash with her first supporting role in 2002’s Gai Nhay (Bar Girls), which is considered a landmark Vietnamese film.
She took on the role confidently without ever attending an acting class.
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| Beauty queen Truong Ngoc Anh plays a scrap vendor in Phat Tai |
In this year’s romantic comedy Kiss of Death, Hang plays An, a young bartender who meets her dream man just days before she is scheduled to die.
The audience learns that she is about to die because her dream man is in fact an angel of death sent to take her to the underworld.
An desperately tries stay alive but gives in to her death in the arms of her lover, whose kiss takes her away from the earthly world.
Nguyen Quang Dung, who wrote and directed Kiss of Death, says he auditioned over 100 actresses before Hang finally showed him the lively character he was looking for.
He says he was not necessarily aiming for Hang, despite her popularity in Bar Girls.
“The producer asked me whether I was sure about hiring Hang, but at that time I was torn.”
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| Ngo Thanh Van’s first role in Sai Gon Tinh Ca |
Hang then tested out her skills by playing the lead as the director spent a week auditioning the male lead and was able to convince Dung she had what it takes.
Due to several scandals, the musical Sai Gon Tinh Ca (Saigon Love Story), originally made in 2004 by Vietnamese American director Ringo Le, has not been released in local cinemas until this year.
The movie was the first time singer Ngo Thanh Van, one of the film’s female leads, had ever acted.
Van has just won best actress at the 15th Golden Lotus Vietnamese Film Festival for her lead role in last year’s Dong Mau Anh Hung (The Rebel), which was filmed after Saigon Love Story, but released before.
Lastly, this movie season, actress Truong Ngoc Anh in her first ever humorous character plays a pretty countryside girl who sells scraps and waste in Phat Tai (Becoming Rich).
Hilarious antics ensue when a wealthy man falls in love with Anh’s character and the bumpkin tries awkwardly and desperately to act rich.
