Actor Le Minh Thuan tells stories of working as a worker before becoming famous

Before achieving success and becoming more known, especially with the role of Thai in the movie "Red Rain", it can be said that you have gone through a long journey of ups and downs in the profession. Have you ever felt doubtful about your choice?

- As everyone knows, before reaching big projects like the movie "Red Rain" or recently the movie "Guardians and Soldiers: The Mystery of King Dinh's Tomb", I had been in the profession for quite a long time but was still just a small name in the industry. There were periods when I thought about stopping, giving up to start a completely new job.

The simple reason is that acting does not help me manage my livelihood, and there are not many opportunities to work. The uncertain future makes me wonder if I can survive long with the profession? However, the only thing that keeps me is perseverance. To be honest, I am a very persistent person, I pursue everything to the end and do it at all costs, do it most completely.

So have you ever given up to do another job and then fate came and you returned to the profession?

- Actually, yes, there was a time when I thought I was not destined to pursue this profession. I remember in 2017, when I just graduated and started my career, I kept looking for opportunities for myself. In those early years, young actors had very few opportunities. I had to ask this person, thanks to other people's relationships, just hoping to get one, two segments, then six segments to perform. Even, I always said that I don't need a cat-xe, just give myself a chance to do the job, but I didn't have one.

Actually, my family's circumstances at that time were not too difficult because my family had a business, everyone also talked about following the business or choosing another profession. Many times I also had to rethink myself and ask myself, the acting profession is too hard, should I continue or not? After that, I decided to register to study at the University of Finance - Marketing, considering it as studying another major. I have submitted my application, passed the entrance exam, and there is only the step of paying tuition left.

That day I picked up my application, preparing to pay tuition, but in the end I dropped it off. I decided not to study at another school but to continue pursuing an acting career. But after that, I still had no job, so around 2018-2019, I went to work as a worker. At that time, my older brother was a labor safety engineer at an outdoor construction site. People often see workers wearing protective gear, working in the sun, sweating profusely, I used to do the same in the past. I did that job for more than a year, and retired in 2019.

Is your income from that job good?

- With the period 2018 - 2019, I remember a salary of about 14 - 15 million VND/month was quite stable, definitely more stable than being an actor at that time.

I go to work every day, usually from 6 am to 6 pm. There are days when I have to work overtime all night, working until morning. Once around 3 am, I returned to my rented room, sat alone and cried. Looking at my classmates, everyone was working, one went to perform, the other went to film, and I went to work as a worker every morning, and came back in the evening. The feeling at that time was very sad.

My class has some friends, and there are also people who later do not continue to pursue the profession, get married or switch to business. Because acting is really hard, not everyone can pursue it to the end, so each person gradually chooses a different direction.

After more than 1 year of quitting his acting career to work as a worker, what brought you back?

- The first opportunity came to me at the end of 2019. At that time, Ho Chi Minh City Television Station organized a casting for a movie. I read information online, so I went to the station to audition. At that time, I didn't know that if I wanted to enter the station, I had to register my name first, inform the film crew to have someone come to pick me up and arrange for casting. I just came straight, so I was invited out, not allowed to audition. Being kicked out, I had to leave.

But then, seeing the actors and assistants come in, I risked following them right away. I just quietly joined the group and got inside. The casting was also quite promising. The director said I did well and even asked: "If I invite you to participate in the movie, can you arrange time?". Hearing that, I was very happy and hopeful. Then came a series of days of waiting.

I kept waiting, until the film was only about 5 days away from filming, I received news. It turned out that the initially chosen actor had given up the role, the film crew had not found a replacement, and I was the second option.

When I was called up to play the role, the feeling at that time was no different from winning the lottery. I immediately reported home: "I passed the movie!". That was the supporting role, so at that time, in my head, I only thought that I had finally had a real opportunity to return to the profession.

Is the villain role in the movie "Red Rain" perhaps a memorable turning point in your career?

- The movie "Red Rain" is indeed an important turning point and can also be seen as a new starting point in my career journey.

Before that, during a long time in the profession, the name Le Minh Thuan was almost not known to the audience. Perhaps only colleagues in the profession knew who I was, and the audience did not really know me. On the street, people also did not recognize me. Therefore, for me, the movie "Red Rain" is a milestone that helps the audience know the name Le Minh Thuan more, and partly defines the image and role type that I can pursue in the future.

However, I don't want to rush too much. I choose to go deep inside, listen and understand myself more so that every art product I make is of quality. For me, I don't need to appear a lot, just have a really good role, a character and enough strength to leave an impression is enough.

Currently, you are more known and appear more often. Is your professional attitude much different from before?

- To be honest, after the movie "Red Rain", my life also had positive changes, both economically and in terms of career opportunities. More projects came to me and filmmakers also trusted me to give me more serious roles, because they were somewhat reassured in terms of both expertise and the attractiveness of actors to the project.

As for the professional attitude, I think I still maintain the seriousness and professionalism of the early days. The only thing is, at the present time, I am more aware of my responsibility for each role and ready to spend 200%, even 300% of my energy on work. I am more focused, work harder and always want each appearance to be better than the previous one.

After the movie "Ho Linh Trang Si: Mystery of King Dinh's Tomb", can you reveal a little about the projects that will be released to audiences in the near future?

- This year, I will participate in a modern film project, in which I transform into a multi-personality character with many layers of interwoven personalities. This is a quite interesting role and also a milestone that I am very much looking forward to.

Besides, I also have an ancient costume film project expected to be released to audiences during Tet. A film about the war theme, revolving around the reconnaissance special forces, has also completed the pre-production stage and is preparing to start filming, and will be released in theaters on a upcoming holiday. I really hope these projects will receive the welcome and support of the audience.

Thank you for sharing!