Johnny Tri Nguyen: 'My girlfriend and I don't need to get married'

Actor Johnny Tri Nguyen said he and Nhung Kate have lived together for more than 10 years but are not married because they want to maintain the excitement of love.

On the afternoon of June 6, Johnny Tri Nguyen attended the launching event of Dragon Fight League - an MMA tournament (mixed martial arts) of which he is the general director - at a martial arts school in Nha Be, Ho Chi Minh City. On this occasion, he talked about his life away from the screen and his love story of more than 10 years with his girlfriend.

- How does your day at the dojo start?

- My life here is very easy, a day starts with a cup of coffee, sometimes ends with a cup of coffee (laughs). Except for the times when there is class, the rest of the time, the gym is quite quiet, not as bustling as the showbiz out there. Every day, we organize two classes to help MMA fighters participate in professional tournaments, one of which I directly teach.

Every day I have a little bit of work like that, the rest is mostly sitting around. I think how I live my life is up to me, and I like this peaceful lifestyle. It's not just in recent years, but in the past, I came back to Vietnam to start a business because I wanted to avoid the noise. Here, I don't have to follow what can be called social pressure. Of course, there were times - like when I was young - when that was what I pursued. Now, enthusiastically building a career is not as interesting to me as enjoying simple, peaceful moments.

Johnny Tri Nguyen at the event on the afternoon of June 6. Photo: Mai Nhat

- How does your girlfriend - actress Nhung Kate - support you in running the martial arts school?

- Nhung Kate still supports me with creative ideas, but is not tied to the operating schedule, and can participate whenever she wants. We do not have many financial difficulties when managing the martial arts school, because it does not need a regular budget like investment companies. The martial arts school model does not bring in a large profit, but we do not calculate that. I do not see myself as having any financial problems, still having enough to live on and even having surplus.

- You and your girlfriend have been in love for more than 10 years, why haven't you gotten married yet?

- To me, marriage is just a formality. I think marriage has nothing to do with love, it's just a way for people to name it, because love belongs to another space, as attractive as a movie. Usually in love movies, two people fall in love and get married, that's it. I don't want an ending, I want it to be like an attractive series.

Johnny Tri Nguyen and his girlfriend Nhung Kate enjoy life at the martial arts school. Photo: Character provided

- How compatible are you and Nhung Kate in love?

- We don't focus on being in sync, sometimes we do whatever we want (laughs). Sometimes, we go on motorbike trips together, traveling through the Indochina routes. I also accompany Nhung in her film projects. For example, at the end of 2021, I went to Budapest, Hungary to support Nhung in filming the series The Continental - a prequel to the movie John Wick - for seven months. In the movie, I also played a guest role.

- Why have you left Vietnamese cinema for the past six years?

- Since 2017, I have not participated in any Vietnamese film projects, but I still occasionally act in Hollywood films. A few years ago, I appeared in Da 5 Bloods (2020) - a $45 million production on Netflix, directed by Spike Lee. I have not returned to the big screen partly because I am busy with the martial arts school, partly because of the two-year pandemic, although before Covid-19, I practiced and came up with ideas with the stuntmen. For me, a film needs to be carefully produced, at least for two years, before it is released.

- What do you remember about the peak time with " Dragon Trap " and " Heroic Bloodline "?

- People often ask me if I have any regrets when looking back on the past. For me, that feeling only comes when I haven't achieved something yet, or am too timid to miss an opportunity. But if I have given my all, I have no regrets. Sometimes, I rewatch the films I've acted in, like sipping and enjoying the food I've cooked.

Having stopped acting, I still follow the Vietnamese film industry. I like the bustling, bustling atmosphere of cinema recently, sometimes not knowing how many films are being released. Having been in the industry for a long time, I understand the rules of that wave. If a comedy earns high revenue, there will be a series of projects following that genre, until the audience gets bored, changes to other tastes, and the producer has to find a new direction. As for me, I still cherish many ideas, writing scripts in my free time. I have completed 4-5 scripts, the latest being Hang Long Chieu Phung , set in the 1950s.

Johnny Tri Nguyen was born in 1974 in Binh Duong. At the age of eight, he followed his family to the US to settle down. After working as a singer overseas and as a stuntman in Hollywood, he returned to Vietnam to work as an actor, becoming famous for the series of films Heroic Blood, Death Kiss, Truong Ba's Soul - Butcher's Skin, Dragon Trap, Teo Em. After the film   Crazy Fan (2016) - co-starring with Thai Hoa, an artist who has limited his artistic activities in the country. In addition to practicing, the actor aims for a meditative lifestyle to achieve mindfulness in life.

Vnexpress.net