The scene made Van Dung think she fainted on the spot.
Sharing with Lao Dong reporters, artist Van Dung confided that in recent days, she could not help but feel sad, sometimes confused when reading the audience's comments about the role of Mrs. Ngoc that she played in the movie "That Summer": "Reading those comments, I can't help but feel sad. So many years of attachment to "Gala of Laughter", "Tao Quan", "Meeting at the End of the Week", I have always been loved and welcomed by the audience. That feeling is precious to me, so when I encounter harsh comments, I am also sad and confused. Sometimes, I ask myself if after this movie, I will still have the courage to take on another villain role.
According to Van Dung, most of the comments expressed outrage at Ms. Ngoc. But there are also people who speculate about her in real life from the character, saying that perhaps Van Dung is also similar to the character, so she often plays such roles.
Reading those words, she felt sad and self-pitying, the female artist hoped that the audience would understand that that is the personality of the characters in the film, not the person of an actor in real life.
When I calmed down, I understood that the audience's strong reaction to Ms. Ngoc also meant that the role had touched the audience's emotions.
Thinking so, I see that my efforts have been rewarded. I just hope that the audience, no matter how angry or hateful they are at Mrs. Ngoc, will still understand and sympathize with the actress behind that role," Van Dung confided.
Recalling the scenes that left many emotions, Van Dung will always remember the scene of Mrs. Ngoc receiving the news of her husband's death.
In front of her children, she tried to maintain a strong look, but when she disappeared behind the hospital wall, she let herself go in pain, crying silently.
The moment the mother could no longer cope with the loss also made many viewers shed tears.
“When filming that scene, I almost couldn't breathe, my heart was beating rapidly. The scene was completed right from the first act, but when the camera stopped, I was almost exhausted, feeling like I was about to faint on the spot.
According to the initial script, when receiving the news of her husband's death, Ms. Ngoc would scream and have quite a few lines. But I asked to perform that scene in a different way: Leaving the character alone with pain, expressing emotions through acting instead of words," Van Dung said.
The actress believes that there are too great pains that make people speechless, only silently enduring the torment in their hearts. That is the emotion she wants to send into this scene.
Besides, Van Dung is also impressed with the scene of Mrs. Ngoc meeting Khanh (To Dung) at a coffee shop, asking him not to continue meeting his daughter.
The confrontation between Mrs. Ngoc and Phuong (Minh Thu) at home, when she knows the truth about the promise between Khanh and her mother, is also a segment that leaves a strong impression on the female artist.
With those psychological segments, Van Dung spends a lot of effort searching for acting styles, clearly depicting the angles in Ms. Ngoc's personality, making viewers drawn into the story, sometimes inevitably angry at the character's behavior.
The first time the two mothers and daughters co-starred in a TV series
To cultivate her own acting style, Van Dung always focuses on cultivating and learning. She looks at Vietnamese films such as "Cánh đồng hoang", "Săn bắt cướp", "Con chim vành khuyên", "Mẹ vắng nhà"... to learn from how veteran artists transform into characters.
She also regularly watches foreign movies, learns diverse ways of expressing themselves to enrich her professional skills and flexibly apply them to each role.
For Van Dung, "That Summer" also has a special meaning when she participated in the film with her son Long Vu. Working with her son, sharing experiences in acting is her personal joy in this journey.
I accepted to participate in the film with my son when I had not finished reading the script. Initially, Ms. Ngoc was a supporting role, her personality did not have many highlights.
When exchanging with the director, I expressed my desire to be more creative so that the character has its own unique features. From that process, a Ms. Ngoc with a clear personality gradually formed," Van Dung shared.
