The latest role of Colonel, Meritorious Artist Pham Cuong is in the political drama "Lan Bien", a work on the topic of anti-corruption and group interests. That is the character Nguyen Van Thuy - Chairman of Viet Dong province, who was a Vice Chairman co-chairman with Mr. Le Dinh Sach (played by People's Artist Trung Anh).
Good must have intelligence to overcome evil
What difference does the role of Provincial Chairman Nguyen Van Thuy in the film "Lan Tran" have in your opinion compared to the role of Provincial Chairman Nguyen Tri Tue in the film "Chairman of the Province" you previously played in?
- In 2010, I played the role of an honest, upright, and easily-loved Chairman of the province. In 2025, the character of the Provincial Chairman this time still represents justice, but is not absolutely gentle, he knows how to "taken the trouble" because evil at this time is not as simple as before!
The character of Provincial Chairman Nguyen Tri Tue was born in the context of the evil "cage" of violence, causing good things to worry, weakly reflecting, thinking that if resistance and struggle, disaster would be inevitable. He is a pure good person, not accepting to accept being atone with bad things, he is like a boxer fighting quite unilaterally when fighting to eliminate negativity.
The character of Provincial Chairman Nguyen Van Thuy in the film "Lan Tran" does not appear much, and does not directly solve all the events of the film, but Mr. Thuy is not simply a "sympathetic, intelligent" person, especially not a parishioner. On the contrary, during the struggle, this character often had to temporarily reconcile and live with the bad, but was not unified to choose the opportunity to expose the bad from the bad to make his name comrade.
Good, in addition to being able to recover, also requires the power to destroy bad things. People see the good and the bad here as truly two opposite and balanced lines of battle, so the fight is more fierce. The story in the work is more relevant, with convincing power in accordance with the perception of the times.
The struggle between good - bad, positive - negative is a fairly popular topic in the television series genre in particular. However, the reflection on this struggle needs to be more realistic.
What kind of political film attracts you?
- I love political films because they allow to exploit the depth and richness of two sides in people, but when exploiting, they must bring "good - good - beautiful" values that are in line with the awareness and evaluation in the development stage of the times. I don't like characters with a static view, dividing "completely good" or "absolutely bad". People, life is not that simple. This character is progressive, degraded, both good and bad, sometimes having to "hide", "disguised as bad" to fight more effectively.
In short, destroying the bad, we must accept the good to use everything, both light and darkness, to protect the regime, protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people.
How does being an Army artist help you when playing political plays?
- First of all, I really like the political film genre. During my work, in addition to being a stage and film artist, I have been Deputy Director of the Army Drama Theater for 8 years and Director of the People's Army Cinema for 9 years. During that time, I often thoroughly grasped policies and guidelines, accessed many documents with high legality, and met many officials and leaders, so when participating in this genre of films, I felt less surprised. However, it must be admitted that it is very difficult to learn and speak the political genre. I have to endure hardship to study to go to school again, to be a lowly person, to dig deeper into the content of the sentence in order to avoid a prosperous life.
Coming to art is completely random, but it is a lifelong passion
It is known that he is the only person in the family who is active in the arts. Before taking up his current position, he had experienced many manual labor jobs. Which period was the most difficult for him?
- Actually, I don't see myself as hard as people think. My family is not too poor, I am just the type of person who likes and loves work. They are all me in art, probably due to fate. In high school, every summer break, I work part-time: making bread, making lamps, making paint, even being a construction worker in my own family. I tried everything, the more I became accustomed, the more interesting it became. I work because I like it, not for a living, so I don't get tired. I still remember when I was studying for the university entrance exam and went filming sugarcane juice to sell. I love work, I love the feeling of freedom in the work I choose.
If talking about difficulties, it is probably the times when the film is finished that I feel the role is not complete. I often get chased after the film, I just think that if I can do it again, I will do better. That feeling is more tiring than manual labor. I do not consider the years of working young people as miserable. On the contrary, I feel lucky to be able to live fully in everything.
Hearing that you came to art was a coincidence, right?
- It is truly completely random. One day, my best friend and I went to see a very famous movie at that time. While waiting for the screening, we went out to the cinema and stood there, someone thought we were a contestant competing in a film actor competition, calling us in for a role-playing test. The two of them didn't understand anything but took the risk and immediately took the opportunity to be recruited. At that time, I even hid it from my family and did not dare to talk about my film acting competition. At that time, acting competitions were a very terrifying thing. All of the big names such as artists The Anh, Lam Toi, Tra Giang... are famous all over the country. The audience in the subsidy period lined up outside the theater to buy tickets to watch the film, so they were... shy when they said they were going to an acting competition! My class has many familiar faces such as: Thac Chuyen, Chieu Xuan, Hong Giang, Hue Dan, Tuan Minh, Tu Oanh... When graduating, right at the right time, the Vietnam Feature Film Studio reduced staff, so each person had to find their own way. I am the same, just getting into the profession, completely unpredicted, but I will stick with it for the rest of my life.
It is known that his son passed the Law University exam, so both of his children are not pursuing an artistic career?
- Currently, it is not true, but I still feel that the children have a deep "artistic quality". I think each person has their own journey, and at some point, life will arrange itself in the right position. I strongly support my children studying at the Law School, because that helps them have knowledge, courage and the right thinking. The law not only teaches people to distinguish between right and wrong but also trains them in the ability to protect themselves. Although the real future is changing, even when AI is developing, understanding the law and understanding oneself is still the way for people to live firmly.
When my children were young, I took them with me to film studios, but very few of them. At that time, filming was often far away, so I only occasionally let my grandchildren come to see a play or go to the studio. However, I still feel that the children are talented and emotional, that "artistic quality" is somewhere inside. My daughter has graduated from the University of Law for a long time, but later turned to another direction, working in fashion, and then tea ceremony. I see it as an art form, just a different expression. As for his younger brother, he has just passed the Law University entrance exam and is in the first semester.
