The female lead of the movie 'Once upon a time there was a love story'

Ngoc Xuan - actress in the film adapted from Nguyen Nhat Anh's story - was chosen by the director to play the main role because of her rustic beauty and emotional eyes.

The crew revealed the behind-the-scenes look at the actress playing the role of Mien - a girl from the Central region in the best-selling novel by a writer from Quang Nam. Director Trinh Dinh Le Minh said he noticed the 25-year-old actress during the casting round. At that time, he was impressed by her innocence and the way she expressed her emotions through her eyes. "However, I was hesitant because Ngoc Xuan had little experience in acting and had never appeared on the big screen. After the film started filming, I breathed a sigh of relief and believed that my choice was the right one," the director said.

In the original, Mien had an unhappy childhood and a broken family. Mien's father was often drunk, her brother caused trouble everywhere, and her mother could only cry and beg. The climax was when one day Phuc - her childhood friend - planned to escape the village with Mien to start a new life.

The two characters have intimate scenes when Phuc and Mien fall in love, then the female lead gets pregnant and has to be a single mother. Screenwriter Nhi Bui said Ngoc Xuan's natural way of playing the role made him and the crew feel secure, especially in the scenes depicting the tragic love story.

Actor from Tien Giang, appeared in the movie Mother's Dream (2022), MV Why bright? of singer Lam Truong. In the actor selection round of Once upon a time there was a love story , Ngoc Xuan was loved by the audience through videos posted on the TikTok platform. From there, the actor entered the next rounds, becoming the main face of the project.

The film revolves around Vinh (Avin Lu), Mien (Ngoc Xuan), Phuc (Do Nhat Hoang) - a group of close friends who were close throughout their youth in the 1990s in the poor countryside of Phu Yen. Growing up, Vinh and Phuc both fell in love with Mien, and the love triangle was the key to the main characters' life events.

Character Mien on the poster of the movie "Once upon a time there was a love story". Photo: Thanh Hanh

The crew invested in the art to depict rural life. The scene of students cycling to school during the flood season was filmed in Hoa Tan Tay commune, Tay Hoa district, Phu Yen. The director chose villages with similar architecture, depicting a large scene of the group of characters playing in the ripe rice fields, under the sunset. An Ninh Dong Primary School (Tuy An district) is where the childhood story of the trio Vinh (played by Thanh Tu), Mien (played by Mona Bao Tien), Phuc (played by Hao Khang) takes place.

Trailer for the movie "Once Upon a Time There Was a Love Story". Video: CJ

Story Once upon a time there was a love story released in 2016, sold more than 100,000 copies, and entered the top 10 best-selling works of Nguyen Nhat Anh. Compared to many books on the same topic such as In Blue Eyes, Red Summer, and Passing Through Chrysanthemums , the author goes into more intense situations. The first clumsiness develops into a deep love relationship, including "eating before marriage". The publisher initially planned to label the story 16+, but later decided not to limit the age because they considered the work highly educational.

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