Kieu Chinh [p.4]

KC: I like this role very much. I portray a [traditional] grandmother eating betel nut. She has only one son who is forced into re-education camp so she leaves the country with her daughter-in-law and her grandson with the hope that she can bring her grandson a better future in freedom. Anh Nguyen Long is wonderful—he plays my son. And singer Diem Lien plays my daughter-in-law and be Nguyen (Nguyen Thai Nguyen) plays my grandson. I was surprised. He is awesome! Ham Tran cast him because he had just arrived from Viet Nam and he speaks perfect Vietnamese. We have such a close relationship [on the set]. Even though we worked really hard, I
enjoyed it.

In portraying Ba Noi in this movie, I have more understanding and feeling for the real boat people. I had only heard stories from my friends and read [about it] in books, but I didn’t really know what it was like until I worked in this movie. I’ve seen the movie four times now, and every time I see it, I cry. Ham Tran cast some real re-education camp survivors so it was very natural. This was not about acting, it was about reliving their stories. It turned out to be very powerful.

NHA: I know that besides your film and television career, you have also been very active with charity work. Can you tell us about this other facet of your life?

KC: Yes I’ve been active with charity work since before I left Viet Nam. After Tet Mau Than (Tet Offensive) in 1968 I saw so many widows, so many orphans. That’s when I first started. I went to different orphanages and gave my time to help the children by cutting their nails, cutting their hair, and raising funds for the widows. Then in America, in 1992, I was invited to give a speech at the [Viet Nam] War Memorial in Washington D.C. for the 10th anniversary. Each guest giving a speech read five names on the wall so when I read five names like Smith, Johnson, and so on, I said that deep down in my heart I was thinking about Tran, Le, or Nguyen who also fell during that war. Mr. Lewis Puller [author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Fortunate Son] and Mr. Terry Anderson approached me afterward and expressed their desire to do something for the unfortunate in Viet Nam and that’s when we started the Viet Nam Children’s Fund. We decided to build schools for poor children in areas that were damaged by the war. Our first school was built in Dong Ha at the 17th parallel. Since then we have built 17 schools with enough room for more than 20,000 children. Our goal is to build enough schools for 58,000 children to match the number of Americans fallen during the war.

NHA: If you look back on your long career, perhaps do a retrospective, what would you have to say?

KC: Next year will mark 50 years of my career in the motion picture industry. I still hope that there can be a grand story about Vietnamese, that there will be a challenging character for me to play. I don’t want to play an easy part. With the young [Vietnamese] directors now, I believe there will be. I am very excited about the future.

NHA: For young Vietnamese who want to pursue a career in acting, what advice would you give them?

KC: Each career has its own risks, especially acting. It’s not easy. Do not think of acting as glamorous. But if you love it, have a passion for it, then do it for that, but don’t think of the glamour. Don’t think that overnight you can become a Nicole Kidman. Think of [acting] as a work of art. It’s not [about] money or glamour. That’s how I think of it..