Making the right move
Vietnamese personality Kieu Trinh hopes to push her acting career further with a Malaysian Chinese drama series, writes Dennis Chua
SHE’S got quite a social media following, with 187,000 Instagram, 348,000 Facebook and 119,000 Fanpage followers, back home in Vietnam. Pretty face and pleasant girl-next-door demeanour aside, aspiring actress Kieu Trinh has a hunger to make a name for herself in showbiz.
The 23-year-old marketing and hospitality graduate has only been acting for three years.
“Yet I’ve suddenly become so popular amongmoviegoers,” says the cheerful and sociable actress, whose real name is Nguyen Hoang Kieu Trinh.
In the recent interview at Federal Hotel in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, she admits that it wasn’t easy at all, working the long hours on set.
“I count myself lucky that fans back home have taken an almost instant liking to me.
“We’ve got lots of female celebs blessed with natural beauty, who appear in countless screen ads and TV programmes in Vietnam,” she says.
RIGHT MOVES
Although many of them have had more acting experience, she cites working with the right people and on the right projects as the main factors behind her popularity.
“I guess I made the right career choices that have given my showbiz career a speedy lift,” she says.
Kieu Trinh has so far starred as the female lead in the romantic comedies (2014) and
(2016).
“Both have been very popular with young viewers because they talk about Vietnamese youths, their hopes and dreams in a contemporary setting.
“I was lucky to be chosen as the lead in both and while I still have a long way to go as an actress, the directors and senior actors gave me a lot of useful tips to improve myself,” she says.
On the small screen, Kieu Trinh gained much attention after appearing in music videos for Vietnamese artistes such as Mr Siro, Trong Hieu and Kai Dinh.
She has also appeared in print and TV ads for Loreal cosmetics and Lenovo computers.
“I became a model for ads simultaneously with my acting career, and my work as a model indirectly landed me bit parts in the artistes’ music videos,” she says.
OVERSEAS DRAMA
Kieu Trinh will make another career milestone this year by acting in the Malaysian Chinese TV drama series, produced by Datin Wendy Wong of Produksi Seni 2020.
To be directed by Mark Tan, the drama is a co-production between Seni 2020 and Vietnam’s Style TV.
It also stars Evan Siau, Jonathan Lee, Joyce Harn, Angela Chan, Kenji Sawahi, Amber Chia, Wong Wai Hong and Radhi Khalid.
“I’m excited to be in my first overseas drama. It’s got a pretty interesting story covering romance, tourism, culture and the serious issue of human trafficking,” says Kieu Trinh.
The 26-episode series, to be aired on TV2 in October, sees the actress playing the heroine Vu Yen, a college student who chooses to work in Malaysia to support her ailing father.
“She becomes a waitress in a stylish restaurant in a hotel in KL and soon falls in love with Eric, a young and promising manager whose company owns the hotel,” she says.
But unknown to Vu Yen, Eric is also the boyfriend of the company’s chief executive officer, Angela, who soon learns of their relationship and posts him to Bangkok, Thailand.
She adds: “Things get even more complicated when Eric’s best friend, Ricky, begins to develop feelings for Vu Yen as well.”
BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY
Filming, which took a month, began on April 13. The cast and crew will spend another two months of filming, starting late last month, in Kieu Trinh’s hometown, Ho Chi Minh City.
“In the story, I speak primarily in English, with some Mandarin and Vietnamese. I’m thankful to Wendy, Mark and my Malaysian co-stars for helping me learn some conversational Mandarin for my role,” says the actress, who learnt English during her college days.
Although she never thought she’d end up in Malaysia, she let on that she has so far enjoyed the experience.
Describing KL as a beautiful, friendly and cosmopolitan city, with lots of culture and great food, she says: “I’ve also visited Genting Highlands, an interesting getaway for weekends with a fantastic theme park.” BIG DREAMS
Kieu Trinh has always wanted to become an actress, and while her parents initially wanted her to become a businesswoman, they eventually consented to her decision, provided she completed her college education first.
The second of three children, she is a fan of Jackie Chan and dreams of starring with him in a Hong Kong movie someday.
“Jackie is my favourite screen idol. He’s funny and heroic on the big screen, and he’s also a charitable man who has endeared himself to fans around the world.”
Kieu Trinh also admires fellow Vietnamese actresses Ngo Thanh Van
and Chi Pu
“Chi Pu is my good friend, who has guided me a lot as an actress. She’s my role model actress from home,” says Kieu Trinh, who loves action movies and would love to star in one if the opportunity arises.
Although she loves motorcycling, working out in the gym, running, yoga and swimming, the actress wishes she could sing.
“I’m not a good singer even though I love listening to music. I can dance a little though, and that comes from my modelling experience,” she says with smile.