People's Artist Le Ngoc admits she is difficult, tells the story of a Western son-in-law who loves Vietnamese culture

“I stay with the stage because I love traditional culture”

Many artists after retirement often participate in TV dramas to become more famous, but it seems that People's Artist Le Ngoc is an exception?

– I am passionate about Vietnamese culture and want to work in traditional theater, so I am not interested in television dramas. Many directors have invited me but I did not accept.

It's not that I don't like acting, but I think that if I'm busy doing television, my work on stage will be shared.

I used to be a leader at the Vietnam Drama Theater so I was quite busy. Moreover, after retiring, I had Le Ngoc Theater so I wanted to devote all my heart and energy to my theater.

In your whole life working in theater, what was the most difficult moment for you?

– I stay with the stage because I love traditional culture and am passionate about my profession. From there, I find ways to be creative and find my own path!

When I worked at the Vietnam Drama Theater, around 2003-2005, the theater fell into a "silence", there were not many plays, the pay was low, many artists quit their jobs, working in other fields to ensure their lives. There were also times when the theater had a large number of actors, a play had 3-4 crews of actors, and only by chance could they get on stage.

I was pregnant and still performing. When my baby was 6 months old, I had to take him to work with me. At that time, I took the opportunity to run backstage to breastfeed my baby while performing.

Or there were times when I had just had surgery at the hospital and came home for 2-3 days, I hid it from everyone to continue performing. But every time I went on stage, I loved traditional art more, so all the hardships were no longer important.

In 2016, I separated Le Ngoc Stage to become my own. I can socialize the stage by attracting sponsors for the plays. Some people come to work with me for the art, but others come to me to seek medals and receive higher salaries, so sometimes when I think about my career, I feel sad.

People's Artist Le Ngoc shared with Dan Tri reporter about her burning passion for the stage and her desire to pass on her love and enthusiasm to young actors.

It is said that during her time working at the Vietnam Drama Theater, many people were afraid of her?

– Maybe it’s true (laughs), because I’m on the Art Council of the Theater, and I’m very strict with the plays. I always put the quality of art first, serving the public, not doing art in a “flowery” way.

I went to England to see a performance and saw that their National Theatre had very good plays. I brought the scripts back for the Theatre to stage.

When artists are passionate about their work, they will have reasons to defend their opinions and bring great plays to the stage. If it weren't for the theater and the stage, they wouldn't be able to do that.

Some say that People's Artist Le Ngoc performs for fun, not to make a living. What do you think?

– Artists cannot get rich, except for famous singers. My husband, Meritorious Artist Van Hai, left the stage for a while to do business and take care of the family finances. My husband is my support in every aspect.

We studied acting together and worked together at the Vietnam Drama Theater. At that time, I was on the Theater's Artistic Council, so he occasionally gave me script suggestions. When my husband temporarily left the stage, I still stuck with the profession.

People say that artists have big egos so it's hard to find close friends in the profession. Do you think so?

– I often stand up to protect people, I am straightforward so maybe people are shy because they don’t understand me fully. People often say “being straightforward and honest often leads to disadvantages”, but that’s my personality, those who understand me are very precious.

I am a workaholic, want to do everything for art.

People's Artist Le Ngoc (in yellow shirt) standing next to General Secretary To Lam at a recent meeting with artists and writers (Photo: Provided by the character).

Recently, many traditional artists of Tuong, Cheo, Cai Luong... have "called for help" because their work is hard but their salaries and fees are low... There are people who have worked in Hanoi for nearly 20 years but still do not have enough money to buy a house, and have to live in rented houses or public housing... What do you think about this situation?

– Thinking about this situation, I feel sorry for them. If they play the main role, they only receive 260,000 VND/performance, and for a supporting role, they only receive over 100,000 VND.

As society develops, technology 4.0 brings us access to many forms of entertainment on social networks, so it is difficult to sell tickets for plays such as tuong, cheo, cai luong, etc., and there are no viewers, leading to a difficult life for artists.

When I went to the theater festival and met some theater leaders, I still shared that, in addition to the time performing on stage, you should create conditions for young actors to be able to perform more, participate in many outside art projects to earn more income. They can still work and their salary will also increase.

Many young actors told me: "I have to work extra to pay for rent, food...", it sounds so pitiful!

On stage, People's Artist Le Ngoc is recognized for her natural and graceful acting ability (Photo: Character provided).

In 2013, she founded the Le Ngoc Theater Club, and in 2016 she changed the name to Le Ngoc Theater. While state-owned theaters have to struggle to have red-light shows, she has been able to " keep the fire" for her stage for so long?

– I used to be the manager of a theater under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for quite a while, so I have experience in theater. The most important thing is to serve the audience, if you don’t consider the audience as the center, you will fail.

Art is like a dish, if you keep giving the audience the same dish, they will get bored. Theater people must understand the psychology and tastes of the audience to have many good plays, quality drama.

Moreover, don't sit there waiting for the audience, but proactively approach them. So that when they see your performance, they will want to see more and more.

I often bring the play to schools. If the school has a stage, we are willing to bring the crew to the school instead of waiting for them to come to the theater to watch.

There are schools that see us and like us, they contract with us for many shows with different plays. There are principals who have retired but still introduce us to schools to perform for young audiences.

Theater people also have to calculate the timing to see when a play is "popular" and when it is not.

Our plays such as: Being a King, Echoes of a Time, Mother's Tears, Adventures of a Cricket, Thi No - Chi Pheo... are all loved by the audience and they want to see them again and again.

“At home, I am the bad guy to my kids.”

Investing heavily in plays, does the revenue cover the costs?

– All the revenue usually does not cover the amount of money I spend, never break even, let alone make a profit.

For example, with the play Adventures of a Cricket , I invested 1 billion VND in the play, bringing the crew to Ho Chi Minh City with airfare, hotel, food and accommodation for the whole crew, costing another 2 billion VND, so I had to calculate and balance so that everyone could still work and still have a performance fee.

I sacrificed like that because I wanted to dedicate the best plays to the audience.

When we came to Ho Chi Minh City, we performed 2-3 shows a day, and the city theater was packed. I found that the directors and theater people in the South were very good because they were passionate and dedicated to their profession, and because they appealed to the audience's tastes, tickets sold very well.

The female artist who founded Le Ngoc Theater encountered many difficulties, but she was able to develop her theater on her own. The plays she performed were always creative but still maintained the traditional essence, thus attracting audiences.

When establishing Le Ngoc Theater, what difficulties did you encounter?

– I have a flexible management style so many artists love me, but I have difficulty gathering actors.

Le Ngoc Stage's staff is often mobilized from other theaters and art units, so it is very passive. If other theaters have difficulty, Le Ngoc Stage has difficulty 100 times more.

Early next March, I had a contract to perform 20 shows in Ho Chi Minh City but had to cancel because the play’s staff was scattered. Some taught at the Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema and couldn’t take time off, some couldn’t travel for long periods, some young actors were filming TV dramas, going to school…

We also don't have our own theater. Every time we rehearse, we go to the Vietnam Cultural and Art Exhibition Center (Hoa Lu, Hanoi) and when we perform, we have to rent theaters at the theaters.

Or, when taking the actors to the International Theatre Festival, I am the one who makes passports, buys plane tickets for the crew… I pay for all these expenses so that the play can “bring the bell to strike foreign lands”.

Many times I was discouraged and wanted to quit my job, but my passion kept me from leaving the stage. Behind the curtain, I had to shed sweat, tears, and even blood to revive my stage.

Being so absorbed in the stage, did your husband say anything?

– My husband is more passionate about the stage than I am, he always encourages me to pursue my career. Because of his passion for the stage, he lets me freely pursue my dream. I always feel lucky to have a husband who understands and is considerate of his wife and children.

On stage, the audience sees People's Artist Le Ngoc often play roles with fate, pain, and worries... Can the audience imagine what kind of person she is in real life?

– When acting, I often look at the character’s “underlying words” to see what’s under the lines. I get to act a lot so I mature early.

In real life, I am quite a difficult person, but when I talk and "uncork" I am loved by everyone.

The female artist admits that she is an artist who works hard on stage and in real life is also a strict mother in raising her children.

You have two daughters, when raising them, do you have any special principles?

– I teach my children strictly, always instructing them in every detail. At home, I play the role of the bad guy, the one who enforces the law, while my husband indulges the children more. When sitting down to eat, I often remind them how to hold chopsticks, how to speak, and how to behave.

My eldest daughter was born in 1988 and is working in Singapore. My second daughter was born in 1994 and is working as an auditor in the UK and is married. Luckily, they are good students, independent early on, and care a lot about their parents, so we are very reassured.

Even though they went abroad to study early, the children still maintain traditional Vietnamese values ​​and love Tet. In particular, my Western son-in-law also loves to go to Vietnam, wear Ao Dai and enjoy the cuisine.

When my son-in-law came to Vietnam, I was the one who introduced traditional culture to him, taught him how to use chopsticks... My son-in-law praised me, "Mom, you talk so well."

This Tet, my children will return to Vietnam, I will introduce how to wrap Chung cake, the hobby of displaying flowers on Tet, the custom of visiting the first house, and giving lucky money to the son-in-law.

Being so busy with stage work, when do you have time for yourself?

– No matter how busy I am, I always take time to relax. In my free time, I listen to music and take care of flowers. There is a small rose garden on the roof of my house. When I have time, I go up there to take care of the flowers to relax.

I can't cook as well as my husband so he often cooks for me. We have a simple house, only when the children come home do we cook and prepare elaborate meals.

Thanks for sharing!

People's Artist Le Ngoc is happy to have her husband, Meritorious Artist Van Hai, as a solid support that helps her freely develop and contribute in the field of performing arts.

People's Artist Le Ngoc was born in 1960 in Hanoi, and is an actress of the first class of the Vietnam Drama Theater. She is the daughter of teacher, writer, and playwright Viet Hoai. She was awarded the title of People's Artist in 2015.

During her time working at the Vietnam Drama Theater, People's Artist Le Ngoc received a Special Award at the First Experimental Theater Festival (2008), a Silver Medal at the National Drama Theater Festival in 2012 for her role as Them in the play Chia tay hoang hon , and a Gold Medal for her role as Mrs. An in the play Lau dai cat at the National Theater Festival 2015...

At Le Ngoc Theater, she won many important awards and medals. In 2016, with Ngu Bien , she won the Hibiscus Award for Best Actress at the ASEAN Theater Festival in Nanning, China.

In 2019, she won the Gold Medal for the role of Pham Thi Nga, the play Legend of Go Rong Ap at the 4th Hanoi International Experimental Theatre Festival, 2019.

At the 2021 National Professional Drama Festival, she received a Gold Medal for her role as Thi No in the play Thi No - Chi Pheo . At the 5th Capital Theater Festival in 2022, she received a Gold Medal for her role as Queen Thien Cam in the play Legend of One Pillar Pagoda .

In December 2024, she was selected by the Department of People with Merits (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs) as one of 200 national artists and writers to meet with General Secretary To Lam.

Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giai-tri/nsnd-le-ngoc-nhan-minh-kho-tinh-ke-chuyen-re-tay-me-van-hoa-viet-20250104002459911.htm