From a naughty boy to a destined actor

Phuong Binh was born in 1966 in Tra Vinh . His family made a living from small businesses - his father and older brother transported agricultural products by rickshaw, his mother and older sister sold goods at the market. Since childhood, Phuong Binh was known for being mischievous.

The time he was assigned the role of the soldier who captured Vo Thi Sau in a school play, the boy "bravely" reminded his friend right on stage, making the audience laugh. At that moment, a strange joy secretly arose: "This is so much fun, I wonder if it can become a career?".

Since 7th grade, Phuong Binh has known how to earn money to support his family. The first time he brought a tray of orange cakes and cong cakes to the market to sell, Phuong Binh was so engrossed in watching his friends play a game that spilled sugar on the cakes. Although his mother scolded him and he had to pay for the bakery, Phuong Binh was not discouraged. He secretly woke up at 4am to sell bread, persevering for 3 years.

Comedian Phuong Binh was born in 1966 and has been in the profession for nearly 40 years.

Fate brought him to acting quite by chance. On the day the recruitment team of the Stage Arts School 2 came to the locality, Phuong Binh had a high fever and was lying at home. The head teacher and friends felt sorry for him and sent the class monitor to his house to help him audition. From more than 2,700 candidates, Phuong Binh was in the top 25 and was valedictorian.

The Wooden Chest and the Love Letters

Coming to Saigon to study with a tight budget, Phuong Binh lived in a dormitory in difficult circumstances. Each month, he received 13,000 VND, half a kilo of meat and 13 kilos of rice. To earn extra income, Phuong Binh studied during the day and repaired tires at the 23/9 Park intersection at night. During the summer break of his second year of university, Phuong Binh went to Can Tho to work as a bus conductor on the Can Tho - Long Xuyen route. From this job, he saved up to buy a wooden chest - the most valuable item at that time.

The chest not only contained clothes, shrimp paste, and shrimp paste, but also contained student love - nearly 100 love letters with a friend from the same hometown, who was a classmate from grade 7 to grade 12. During their relationship from college to graduation, they often wrote letters to each other.

In 1995, while Phuong Binh was performing in the province, a major flood hit the boarding house. When he returned after 1-2 days, the room was flooded, the chest was waterlogged. All the precious mementos - nearly 100 love letters, the most beautiful memories were soaked and damaged. Only the wooden chest remained, but the hinges were broken.

Phuong Binh and Meritorious Artist Hanh Thuy.

The decision to "escape" from his wife and 33 years of separation

After graduating in 1989, Phuong Binh returned to Tra Vinh to work at the General Music and Dance Troupe with a salary of 50,000 VND/performance. Life was miserable, the troupe slept in the market on rotten meat chopping boards, and was bitten by mosquitoes all night long. Unable to bear it, Phuong Binh went to Saigon to sell water and cigarettes in front of his old school.

In 1992, Phuong Binh returned to his hometown to marry his high school girlfriend and had two sons. He applied to work at the provincial radio and television station. Although his life was stable, his artistic passion still burned brightly.

After discussing with his wife, Phuong Binh made the most difficult decision of his life. In 1993, late one night, he quietly packed two sets of clothes into a backpack and "escaped" from his wife to Ho Chi Minh City. Afterwards, he wrote a letter of apology: "I hope my wife will understand because acting is in my blood and I cannot give it up."

In more than 30 years of living away from his wife and children, have you ever felt that your sacrifices were somewhat selfish? To this question, he replied: "I don't think I'm selfish. Because of my love for the profession and I think that besides acting, I can't do any other job. This profession must be done in Ho Chi Minh City to be suitable. If I could do it in the province, I would probably stay to be close to my wife and children. For that, I am grateful to my wife. If my wife were another woman, we probably wouldn't be able to live together until now. My wife's sacrifice is great when she understands her husband's passion," Phuong Binh expressed to VietNamNet.

The Renting Years and the Most Heartbreaking Moment

Returning to Ho Chi Minh City, Phuong Binh was helped by friends such as Phuoc Sang, Hoang Son, and Nhat Cuong to join the group Tuoi Doi Muoi performing at the 135 Hai Ba Trung stage, but his income was only enough to cover personal expenses and could not send his wife.

During the 23 years of renting a house, Phuong Binh experienced many difficulties, sometimes having to write letters to his wife asking for money. When his son grew up and went to study in Ho Chi Minh City, he needed at least 20 million VND each month for the father and son to have enough to live on. "Whenever he was in a tight spot, he asked his wife, and when he had extra, he sent it home," the actor confided.

To increase his income, Phuong Binh once opened a drinking place. But because he had to "entertain" many guests, after 7 months his limbs swelled due to liver damage, so he decided to close it.

Whenever he missed his son, Phuong Binh would lie there, feeling sorry for himself and crying. Every time he came back to visit, because he hadn't seen him for a long time, his son didn't remember him and wouldn't let him hold him. He had to patiently stay home for a few days to let his son get used to it, buying milk and cookies to "entice" him. When his son had just gotten used to it, he had to leave again.

The most heartbreaking moment was when his eldest son was born with an eye infection and nearly went blind. Phuong Binh returned home late from a performance and had to climb over the fence to get to the hospital because it was past his work schedule. "The doctor said our family was lucky, if it had been 5 hours later, our son would have gone blind," he recalled.

Artist Phuong Binh was once the valedictorian of the University of Theatre and Cinema, and used to fix tires for a living. He bought his first house at the age of 51.

First home at age 51

In 2017, at the age of 51, on a rainy afternoon, while eating at a flooded rented house in District 8, Phuong Binh scrolled through his phone and saw information about selling apartments to low-income people. Although he only had 5 million in his pocket, he decided to look at the apartment priced at 930 million.

"I'm telling you the truth, I have exactly five million left in my pocket," Phuong Binh told the salesperson honestly. The woman was touched and lent her five million for a deposit. Even more miraculously, the director of the real estate company heard the story and decided to help.

On July 27, 2017, Phuong Binh officially moved into his first house. Due to his old age, the house was registered in his son's name to facilitate 15-year installment payments.

Do the two sons share anything about their father's work or understand his decision? - "The older son chose to study stage directing and just graduated. The younger son doesn't like it because he sees his father working but life is too difficult. He graduated from the Faculty of Tourism of Tra Vinh University", Phuong Binh shared.

Phuong Binh and his wife.

During more than 30 years of separation, Phuong Binh's wife silently sacrificed, raising the children alone. "We've been married since 1992, 33 years now, the time we've been together together is probably about 2 years," Phuong Binh confided. Sometimes he only visits his wife once every 6-7 months because he doesn't have money.

Asked Phuong Binh after 40 years in the profession, if he knew in advance the difficulties he had to overcome, would he choose this path again?, he shared: "I still chose it because artists cannot do what they want. Perhaps it is because of talent or the artistic blood in them that they can do it. Even though it is hard, having audiences who recognize their efforts and talent is a consolation and happiness for artists."

Artist Phuong Binh received an award at the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Festival:

Photo: FBNV, Video: TikTok

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Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/doi-nam-nghe-si-leo-rao-benh-vien-tham-con-hon-30-nam-xa-vo-2418568.html