Retired life of artist Minh Hoa

Artist Minh Hoa - who plays in "Love on the Sunny Days" - still drives a car he bought more than ten years ago, saying he teaches to "pass on the torch" to the next generation.

Although she has been retired for 5 years, artist Minh Hoa is busier than when she was working at the Hanoi Drama Theater. She has just finished filming a new movie . judging the stage festival, recruiting new students for the film school. In addition to acting, she has been teaching for many years, although her salary is only enough to "pay for gas and travel". However, teaching helps artists satisfy their passion for drama and their desire to train the next generation. Many people say that Minh Hoa is gentle, but at work, she is strict with herself and those around her.

In real life, the artist is so simple that a colleague once asked: "Why don't women wear any jewelry?". Minh Hoa replied: "Oh, I've played a lot of rich men in movies, in real life I like it simple."

Minh Hoa considers herself a family woman. When she is not performing, she likes to ride her bike to the market and cook at home. She lives with her husband and son's family in Hanoi and drives herself to get to work.

The actor said he doesn't expect too much in life: "For example, when I see other people driving cars worth billions of dong, I don't see any need for that. I'm satisfied with my old car, it just needs to protect me from the sun and rain. The only thing I wish for is good health."

Artist Minh Hoa at the age of 60. Photo: Character provided

As a Hanoi girl, with a noble beauty like many young ladies of the past, Minh Hoa had a difficult childhood. Born in 1964, the eldest sister in the family, the artist soon helped her parents take care of her younger siblings and cook.

Her father, saxophone artist Tran Dinh Giang, was a soldier working at the Ta Ngan Art Troupe and was often away from home. All the family chores were taken care of by her mother, a worker at the Thang Long Tobacco Factory. During the days when Hanoi was bombed, her father took the three of them to Hoa Binh to evacuate, living in a cave, eating wild fruits and wild vegetables. During the subsidy period, everything was distributed by ration stamps. Once, the actress's younger sister woke up at two in the morning to line up to buy meat, but the stamps were stolen.

Later, when her father went to work at the General Department of Performing Arts, occasionally going abroad to perform, her family's life became better. When she entered the University of Theatre and Cinema, Minh Hoa had a mi-fa bicycle, very "cool".

Growing up in a family with an artistic tradition, Minh Hoa entered film school and then naturally became a filmmaker. At the end of 1985, when she was a third-year student, she was accepted by the Hanoi Drama Group. While many young actors struggled in their early days, Minh Hoa soon had roles in two plays. That dawn my heart, Moment and eternity (part two) Me and Us ). Looking back at her early days after graduating, Minh Hoa said she had luck in addition to her own efforts. The two roles were originally played by artist Minh Trang, leaving a vacancy after she followed her family to the South.

At the time when the theater was in its heyday, Minh Hoa and many other artists were able to make a living from their profession. When performing in plays Me and Us Part 2 , she performed three shows a day, lasting for several months. "From the second show, the artist would receive double the compensation, so we often joked that we couldn't buy gold in time. At that time, gold was very cheap, not as expensive as it is now," the artist recalled.

By around 1991, Northern drama was in decline, and the troupe’s actors had to work in many different jobs. Artist Minh Vuong sold shoes, artist Hoang Dung sold clothes, and Minh Hoa studied English and then worked as an office worker. That was when the economy had just opened up a few years ago, and the movement of working for foreign companies was booming. The secretarial work was not too hard, and the salary was in dollars, so relatives were supportive.

After working for a few months, one day, while carrying documents to the Ministry of Construction, Minh Hoa happened to meet a senior leader. After asking about the job, this person told her: "Office workers, anyone who is diligent can do it, but not everyone can be an artist. You should think about your decision." When she returned home, she was sad for a while. At that time, director Vu Chau invited Minh Hoa to act in a movie. Game of life. She gave up her dream of working as an office worker and returned to acting.

Artist Minh Hoa in his youth. Photo: Provided by the character

In the late 1990s, to earn more income, Minh Hoa joined a comedy group founded by artist Minh Vuong, performing skits in many provinces such as Miss slum, expensive street food. In the book Miss Slum, Minh Vuong plays a beauty contestant, Minh Hoa is a judge, together they make the audience laugh. With the play High price of street food Minh Hoa plays a lonely old woman in the countryside in the city, making the audience laugh until they cry.

While performing, artists Minh Vuong and Minh Hoa also acted as "show organizers", inviting singers such as My Linh and Tan Minh to perform. Occasionally, she also had "accidents" when the actors arrived late, so she had to tell stories and perform comedy to "buy time".

When comedy sketches were not yet developed, Hanoi Drama Group had a series of Smile! As the troupe leader, Minh Hoa, Minh Vuong and Cong Ly "fought the East and the North", performing continuously. "At that time, there was a backstage guy who bought a motorbike for about 20 million VND. The amount was not too big but it was still better than now", the artist said.

Having been attached to the theater for more than 30 years, with many successful roles, Minh Hoa is known to more audiences through movies, typically the role of Mrs. Tran Le Xuan in the movie The advisor (1996), Bai Yan movie Hurricane (2010), Mrs. Khue movie Love and Ambition (2020) or most recently Mrs. Nhung in Love the sunny days (2022).

The characters the artist plays are often women with personality, ambition, and many hidden inner corners. The artist has a knack for acting with her eyes, and is also a drama actress so she has good diction. Movie time The advisor When she first started, she received sacks of mail and was so loved that she "never had to pay for food when she went out." Many times, Minh Hoa had to tell her regular restaurant owners not to take money from others to pay for her.

In recent years, the artist has gained more young fans. Every time she judges beauty pageants or appears at student events, she is surrounded by audiences taking pictures, and many times she has to ask the organizers to "rescue" her.

After 40 years in the profession, the artist always reminds herself to be humble. She believes that appearance and talent only contribute a small part to the success of each artist, the important factors are diligence and passion. "You have a beautiful face and talent, but if you do not practice, study, observe and enrich your life, your natural talent will fade away. Artists must extend their creativity so that each role is not duplicated," the actress said.

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