Luc Tieu Linh Dong, real name Chuong Kim Lai, born in 1959, became a familiar face to many generations of Asian audiences thanks to the role of Sun Wukong in the 1986 version of "Journey to the West".
According to the actor's sharing published by Chinese media, it took him about 6 years to make 25 episodes, but the total fee received was less than 2,000 CNY. The fee at that time was about 70-80 CNY per episode.
If converted at the current exchange rate, 2,000 CNY is equivalent to about 7.8 million VND. This is a rather modest amount compared to the influence that the role brought to Luc Tieu Linh Dong's career in the decades that followed.
After the success of "Journey to the West", the actor's income comes not only from movies but also from advertising, brand representation, programs and commercial activities.
There are currently no official figures on the filming fee of Luc Tieu Linh Dong. Some Chinese artist brokerage units list his advertising cooperation price at about 1.5-5 million CNY, equivalent to about 5.8-19.4 billion VND according to the current exchange rate. The fee for using images offered by one unit is about 500,000-1 million CNY, or 1.9-3.9 billion VND.
At a time of high trade attraction, especially in the year of Bing Xin 2016, Chinese media reported that his event attendance price increased from about 200,000 CNY to 600,000 CNY, equivalent to about 776 million to 2.3 billion VND at the current exchange rate. An advertising contract was once mentioned for 7.2 million CNY, equivalent to nearly 28 billion VND.
Luc Tieu Linh Dong's current total assets are not disclosed. Some Chinese media sources describe him as owning assets of tens of millions of RMB. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately determine how much money the actor is holding.
Notably, the life of "Sun Wukong" Luc Tieu Linh Dong was once described by the media as not paying too much attention to villas or luxury cars. Chinese media once visited the actor's house and said that the living space contained a large number of monkey statues, paintings, books and items related to "Journey to the West".
Luc Tieu Linh Dong also revealed that he bought a car quite late and did not know how to drive, his wife was the driver. He used public transport to travel in Beijing.
Part of the actor's notable assets lies in collections related to Sun Wukong and the family's Hou Xi art. He once donated more than 1,300 artifacts, valued at that time at over 10 million CNY - equivalent to more than 38 billion VND if converted at the current exchange rate for the museum in Huай'an, Jiangsu.
At the age of 67, Luc Tieu Linh Dong no longer appears frequently on screen. However, the image of Sun Wukong still helps him maintain his influence and commercial value after about four decades since "Journey to the West".
