New breeze from young faces and social media attraction
In recent years, many Vietnamese film producers have proactively "rejuvenated" the cast by inviting singers, TikTokers, gameshow artists or faces with little film experience. In the context of film promotion heavily relying on social networks, this is considered a reasonable strategy to quickly reach young audiences.
My father's house, one room" is a typical example when combining familiar artists with young faces from television and stage. Actress Minh Anh takes on the female lead for the first time, along with the participation of singers like HIEUTHUHAI, helping the film create a media effect, increase spread on social networks and maintain commercial attraction with family films.
Similarly, Tran Thanh's "Thỏ ơi!!" also attracted attention when it gathered many young artists and prominent faces from music and entertainment programs such as Phap Kieu, Van Mai Huong, LyLy, Phao..., even Tran Thanh admitted to being risky when choosing a new face to star in the movie, Vinh Dam. The existing fan base of the cast helped the movie create a strong media effect right from the project announcement.
From a production perspective, choosing young actors also helps reduce cost pressure compared to inviting A-list stars, and at the same time opens up opportunities to discover new factors for the market. With many projects aimed at Gen Z audiences, using familiar faces on social networks also helps shorten the distance between the film and viewers, creating an advantage in the initial media stage.
Risky gamble
However, novelty always comes with risks. Cinema is a field that requires sophisticated acting skills and the ability to control emotions in front of the camera. When actors lack experience, limitations such as forced dialogue, lack of depth or unnatural reactions can cause the audience to lose connection with the story.
Some opinions about "My Father's House, One Room" suggest that the new factors are not really solid in the heavy emotional scenes, showing that giving important roles to young actors is not an easy choice. Among them, actress Minh Anh was judged for her inexperienced and awkward acting when playing Truong Giang's daughter in the film.
With "Thỏ ơi!", using many amateur faces in psychological character lines is also considered a bold step. Especially, if some faces have good performances like Van Mai Huong, Vinh Dam is considered a minus point when the young actor's acting is still stiff and unnatural.
A more typical case is "The Generation of Miracles", a project that once attracted attention when it gathered many young actors and TikTokers to attract young audiences such as Tieu Tho, Khuyen Duong, Hoang Hai, Nang Mo... Despite having initial media advantages, the film did not create an effect when it was released in theaters, low revenue and quickly left theaters. Many viewers commented that the acting was still inexperienced, lacked cohesion, while the content was not attractive enough to keep viewers. This case shows that the attraction on social networks does not always transform into actual ticket sales.
In fact, Vietnamese cinema has recorded many cases of amateur artists succeeding when they are thoroughly trained and placed in suitable roles. This shows that the problem is not in their background, but in the preparation process, the ability to cast the right person - the right role and the way directors exploit the strengths of actors.
From the above examples, it can be seen that the trend of using young actors is unavoidable in the context of a competitive market and the need for image innovation. However, to achieve long-term effectiveness, filmmakers need to balance between media elements and artistic quality. Audiences can come to the cinema out of curiosity about a famous face, but only stay when the story and acting are persuasive enough.
In the increasingly fierce box office race, casting is therefore not only the stage of choosing actors, but also becomes a strategic decision that directly affects the success or failure of each film.
