First aired in 1997 and lasting until 2000 with 40 episodes, the Criminal Police series is one of the political drama projects that "made waves" and is unforgettable in the memories of millions of Vietnamese viewers.
The Criminal Police series is also a launching pad to help the names of the cast: Meritorious Artist Van Bau, Meritorious Artist Hoang Hai, Meritorious Artist Vo Hoai Nam and Meritorious Artist Hoa Thuy get closer to the public and shine more and more.
After 26 years of broadcasting, the four criminal police officers of the past have had many changes and differences in their lives.
Soundtrack of the movie "Criminal Police" (Video: Youtube).
Meritorious Artist Van Bau plays Chief Khac Truong
Meritorious Artist Van Bau became involved in acting quite late - at the age of 40 - however, he still perfectly transformed into the role of Chief Khac Truong - a serious and calm leader in the Criminal Police.
The male artist once said that to get the most realistic footage, the actors had to get into character and learn from real-life police officers.
Thanks to the success of the Criminal Police series, Meritorious Artist Van Bau continued to be "chosen" for a series of roles as upright and talented police officers during his more than 30 years in the acting profession.
This image suits Meritorious Artist Van Bau so much that, despite participating in hundreds of films, the first impression that audiences remember when talking about the male artist is still the police roles.
He once shared that after the movie ended, in real life, people still mistook him for a police officer and his side job was acting. One morning, when he went to a coffee shop, a gangster in the neighborhood invited him to have coffee and praised him wholeheartedly for his role as an "insider".
Meritorious Artist Van Bau "nailed" the image of a police officer on the small screen (Photo: VTV).
Besides acting, Meritorious Artist Van Bau also participates in reading reports and documents for some programs. He once intended to study to become a director but failed.
"In addition to being an actor, I once intended to study to become a director, but after a while I realized it wasn't right. There were too many young people going to school, and the budget for making films was lacking, so I decided to just be an actor for stability.
Besides, I also do extra programs reading reports and documents. I am also a member of the Vietnam Association of Ethnic Groups, interacting with businesses to create resources to raise funds for people in remote areas, supporting hunger eradication and poverty reduction," artist Van Bau shared in the program Happy Memories.
Regarding his private life, Meritorious Artist Van Bau is quite secretive. It is known that he remarried when he was over 60 years old. His second wife is a poet.
"Before, my wife sometimes nagged me, but now I'm old, the children are grown, and I have a family of my own, so I have more free time. I miss my wife when I'm away, but staying home all the time is boring. My wife joins the veteran music team, so she's happy when I'm away.
Thanks to her own living environment, she is less frustrated, not like when I first started acting. We even encourage each other," Meritorious Artist Van Bau shared about life in old age.
Meritorious Artist Hoang Hai as Lieutenant Tran Minh
Before Criminal Police, Meritorious Artist Hoang Hai played many positive roles in film projects such as: Mother's Legend, Weekend Story, Lakeside Village ...
However, after a long time of traveling and driving long distances to make a living, Hoang Hai left the first and deepest impression on the audience when he returned to the small screen with the role of Lieutenant Tran Minh in the series Criminal Police.
Following the mark of Tran Minh, in 2004, he continued to reap success with the role of Hai - a former soldier with a wandering fate, struggling in the process of integrating into the market economy in the film Duong Doi. This role brought him the award for Most Favorite TV Actor from Television Magazine.
In 2006, Hoang Hai played a container truck driver in the movie Hanoi Hanoi . With his long-distance driving experience, he once again performed his role excellently and won the Golden Kite Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Lotus Award in 2007.
The male artist also admitted that the roles of Hai and Tran Minh are strong marks in his acting career.
Lieutenant Tran Minh is an impressive role in the acting career of Meritorious Artist Hoang Hai (Photo: Screenshot).
Currently, at the age of 55, Meritorious Artist Hoang Hai has been successful in his own business and has maintained his passion and dedication to acting by participating in many prime-time films of VTV such as: Youth 2, Run Away from Youth, Don't Make Me Forget, Me Cung, Crocodile Profile, Mirror Mask... Most recently, the films Life is Still Beautiful and War Without Borders.
Despite having a filmography with many impressive roles, the male artist has never considered what he has achieved as the pinnacle. He always sees each type of character as having both "good" and "evil" qualities for him to experience. And after finishing a role, what remains in him is still a bit of hesitation and regret.
Meritorious Artist Hoang Hai in the role of Deputy Commander Quang - an old soldier who spent his whole life at the border in the film "War Without Borders" currently airing on VTV (Photo: VFC).
Not only successful in his career, Hoang Hai also has a happy marriage with his wife Thu Tuyet and 4 children. The couple's 26-year journey together has also gone through many ups and downs.
Talking about his wife, the male artist could not hide his feelings of respect and pride. He shared with Dan Tri reporter: "The luckiest thing in my life is having a sympathetic and understanding wife, a peaceful place to stay, who always trusts me absolutely."
As an actor, he has to constantly travel between Hanoi and Da Nang, but his wife is used to it and has never had to worry about her husband. The actor also often acts with many young and beautiful actresses, but his wife is always at ease and has never been jealous.
Hoang Hai said, the important thing for a man is to be kind and have standards, then there is nothing to be afraid of. The male artist is grateful to his capable wife. He said: "Normally, if I am not participating in movies, I will spend time taking care of my family, cleaning the house, having coffee with close friends... Life goes by very peacefully and happily."
Hoang Hai and his wife in a TV show (Photo: Screenshot).
Meritorious Artist Vo Hoai Nam as Detective Chien
In Criminal Police , the image of the romantic and talented detective Chien played by Vo Hoai Nam became the ideal man of many girls at that time.
After 26 years, everything has changed but the beautiful impressions and memories of the film and the image of the people's police officer are still there, never fading.
Talking to Dan Tri reporter, Meritorious Artist Vo Hoai Nam revealed for the first time about unforgettable memories of his time playing Criminal Police .
Hoai Nam said that when he played Criminal Police , he was not married and had nothing. Talking about the chance to be chosen for the role of detective Chien, the male artist said that it was probably because he caught the eye of director Khai Hung that he was chosen.
Moreover, at that time, life was difficult, everyone had to do a job, but he was too idle and still a freelance actor, not bound by any organization, so he had more opportunities to be invited to act in movies.
The romantic detective Chien is the role of a lifetime and leaves a deep impression in the hearts of the audience of Vo Hoai Nam (Photo: Screenshot).
In his reminiscence, the male artist recounted a happy memory when the film aired and his name became famous: "In the past, when I went out, the audience no longer called me by my real name but called me Mr. Chien. Wherever I went, I was always surrounded by the audience, respected and admired. Many people even asked me: "So are the police acting in the film or are the actors playing the police?"
This famous film project brought Meritorious Artist Vo Hoai Nam closer to the audience. After Criminal Police, he continued to make his mark through films such as Hanoi Winter 1946, Street Stories ...
However, the financial burden forced him to temporarily stop his passion for acting when his career was on the rise. After 16 years of focusing on making a living to provide for his family, Vo Hoai Nam returned to the small screen with the film Taste of Love and most recently Father's Gift.
Meritorious Artist Vo Hoai Nam at present (Photo: Toan Vu).
In his personal life, Vo Hoai Nam has been happily married for 24 years to his wife Lan Anh. He and his wife have one son and three daughters. His eldest son follows in his father's footsteps and has acted in several plays by artist Tran Luc.
The actor shared that at the age of 58, he has peaceful and simple days with his family, a devoted wife and well-behaved grown children. For him, his current life is quite full and comfortable, "not having to worry about electricity, water, rice, or children's school fees... so it can be called rich".
"I usually wake up early to exercise, have breakfast, then go to the restaurant to clean up and prepare food with my wife to welcome guests. When I come home, I enjoy playing with and taking care of pets. I have two aquariums, birds, two cats and a baby turtle," the actor confided.
Sharing about his wife, Meritorious Artist Vo Hoai Nam said: "There are no words to describe her because saying them would be redundant. My woman is truly a wife, a Vietnamese woman. My wife takes care of the family completely. Whatever I need, my wife can do, that is something that I and many other men should cherish."
Admitting that he is a patriarchal person, the actor revealed that he does not have an imposing personality. He always listens to his wife and children's opinions and only speaks up when he sees something wrong. Besides, Vo Hoai Nam also always encourages his children to live independently.
The actor's happy home (Photo: character's Facebook).
Meritorious Artist Hoa Thuy plays female detective Thu Hien
In the memories of Vietnamese audiences about the Criminal Police series, surely they will not forget the image of the beautiful and brave female detective Thu Hien played by Hoa Thuy, even though she was only 18 years old at that time.
With over 20 years of acting, Hoa Thuy has an impressive portfolio of television and film roles such as: Living forever with the Capital, Hanoi in winter 46 , Bi, don't be afraid , Pao's story, Afternoon across the old street, Bach Duong love song (2018, co-starring with Le Vu Long), Running away from youth, Sinh tu, Chuyen chon phan and most recently the film Returning to the middle of love (2020) co-starring with the late People's Artist Hoang Dung.
In 2019, Hoa Thuy was awarded the title of Meritorious Artist for her lasting contributions to art.
In a conversation with Dan Tri reporter, Hoa Thuy shared memorable memories when she played Criminal Police.
The character of female detective Thu Hien by Hoa Thuy in "Criminal Police" (Photo: Screenshot).
" I remember clearly the scene where I was caught by criminals and hung on the roof of an abandoned house. When I did it, I was very scared because I didn't have any protective gear. Everything happened so realistically!
That scene had to be filmed all night long. I was both sleepy and scared, and only got to rest at 7am. When my husband came to pick me up, I sat in the back of the car and felt like I was about to fall off. I didn't have the strength to sit up straight anymore," Hoa Thuy said.
Like Vo Hoai Nam, after Criminal Police aired, Hoa Thuy's name became famous. She shared that after the show aired, the audience did not think she was an actress. Every day, she received 20 handwritten letters. At that time, she was raising a small child and had free time, so she often wrote back letters.
But at one point, she received so many letters that she could no longer respond. Some people even wrote to her asking her to handle their family matters, and some came to Hoa Thuy's house to ask for her help.
"Honestly, until now, I feel very proud because I have successfully built the image of a people's police officer. I go everywhere, meet many people in the industry, including young people, all say that because of the movie Criminal Police , thanks to watching the movie, they have more motivation to pursue this career," Hoa Thuy shared.
Meritorious Artist Hoa Thuy at present (Photo: Toan Vu).
More than two decades after that memorable role, the actress has gone through ups and downs, with two failed marriages. Meritorious Artist Hoa Thuy is now an independent, strong and confident woman.
Hoa Thuy confided: "I think I need to be independent after many failures. After breaking up with my second husband, I decided to throw all my high heels and dresses aside. I bought myself a lot of flat shoes and sneakers to become a faster and stronger person.
Really… what people see in me as resilience and determination is all created by my clothes and the pressure of life and children. I have to be agile, have to earn money so as not to fall behind and take good care of my children. But inside I am still very feminine and sometimes weak…”
The actress also said that she has never felt lonely or needed a man's shoulder to lean on. To her, love is fate.
"Now, I neither expect nor reject. If I meet someone who can love and accept all my shortcomings and circumstances, I am ready to accept.
But for women my age, who have experienced ups and downs in life, a man's love is not enough. Sometimes I think, a husband is worth three children... I'm afraid. I'm afraid of being busy, so I don't dare to like him," Hoa Thuy said.
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