Meritorious Artist Phu Don was born in 1960 in Hanoi, in a family of 8 children. His father is Meritorious Artist Lai Phu Cuong - who is loved for the role of the eldest uncle Thuan - in the classic movie "17th Parallel, Days and Nights".
Phu Don is the first class of actors trained at the Vietnam Drama Theater.
With a thin physique, dark skin and a face full of wrinkles, he exudes gentleness and hardship. Therefore, when acting in TV series, directors often choose him for poor roles.
Among them, we must mention the famous roles of a time in the movies: "Television about the village", "Em o noi nao", "Hai binh làm thủy điện", "Dat va nguoi", "Nang Dau order", "Hoa hong tren chuong xau", "Dau tri"...
Sharing with Lao Dong reporters, Meritorious Artist Phu Don said that he has been attached to the Television Film Center (Vietnam Television Station) for a long time, so when accepting invitations to make films from VTV, he often does not refuse because he believes in the quality of the works.
I am not picky about scripts, when entering TV series, I try to escape the beaten path by creating characters with more color and personality.
When I came to the studio, in addition to complying with the lines and script, I also asked the director for my creativity, I could improvise in some scenes to make the audience feel more attractive," Phu Don recounted.
When asked: Many people call Phu Don "the most miserable man on Vietnamese screens", do you feel sad?
The male artist replied: "Many people may think it is disadvantageous because I will never receive a main role, soái ca, but I will never be sad, heartbroken or feel disadvantaged because of that.
Nature has given me an austere, small, thin appearance, but I feel proud and see it as Phu Don's brand...".
The male artist added that he has played many roles, from hardship to gentleness, each role gives him a lot of acting experience.
Characters in movies are the same as in real life, there are bad people, there are beautiful people. Why not take your bad and weaknesses as strengths - this I learned from the previous generation. Turn shortcomings into advantages and try to exploit that "private advantage" in my profession," he confided.
Meritorious Artist Phu Don retired in 2020, after retiring for 6 years, he received a pension of 7.5 million VND/month.
The male artist said that he himself is a simple person, so his pension is enough for him to cover daily living expenses.
At the age of 66, Meritorious Artist Phu Don has a simple, peaceful life with his wife and children in a house on Thuy Khue street.
Usually, he wakes up early, drinks coffee, has breakfast and takes his youngest child to school. If there is no filming schedule, artist Phu Don spends most of his time cleaning the house and helping his wife cook.
He said: "I don't mind anything, from cooking, cleaning the house to washing clothes to help my wife. That is fairness and sharing with each other in married life...".
In addition, Phu Don also has a hobby of reading books. He maintains the habit of reading, even just ten or twenty pages a day. According to the actor, reading books and supplementing knowledge will greatly support the acting profession.
When he has a lot of free time, or on holidays and Tet, Meritorious Artist Phu Don often takes his wife and children to his mother's hometown, or goes on vacation. This is also one of the ways to help the male artist warm up family affection.
