Hong Kim Hanh at the 2007 Golden Kite Awards

Hong Kim Hanh says it wasn’t her looks that brought the aspiring singer to the silver screen, but simple determination and persistence.

When Hanh was in 2nd grade, she says, her local cultural house was impressed with her singing abilities and offered her free vocal classes. Though becoming a famous singer had been her dream for as long as she could remember, she lived too far from the school and was unable to attend.

But she continued singing at school events and practicing at home until she competed in the HCMC Television Singing Contest five years ago.

“I was excited when I made it to the finals. Unfortunately, I got sick and couldn’t sing. I never got another opportunity like that again and decided to focus on acting instead,” says Hanh, now a 21-year-old up-and-coming actress and sophomore at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Stage and Cinema.

Since then, she has featured in Trai tim be bong (The little heart), which tied for best picture at last year’s Golden Kites awards, and Em muon lam nguoi noi tieng (I wanna become a celebrity), which was the third runner-up for the best feature the same year.

The Golden Kites are Vietnam’s premier film industry awards show.

Hanh is currently set to appear on two Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) series – Mua cuoi (Wedding season) and Dong song dinh menh (River of destiny) – both of which are set to debut in the next few months.

Don’t be shy

Hanh says that she doesn’t think she is as physically attractive as some of her competitors, but she believes in her ability to succeed through hard work.

“As a newcomer, you’ve got to go to casting calls as much as possible. In two years, I didn’t miss a single screen test.

“I heard about the casting call for Trai tim be bong at the last minute, but I dropped everything to make it in time. I was the last person to arrive.”

A couple of months after Hanh auditioned for Trai tim be bong, the Em muon lam nguoi noi tieng film crew came to her university looking for an actress who could play a singer.

“When the director asked ‘Who can sing?’ I was brave enough to raise my hand. I took the stage still thinking about the last time I disappointed people at the singing contest so many years ago,” Hanh says. “But I believe opportunity cannot wait for you.”

“I think they chose me because I was able to portray a character who aspires to become a singer, which has actually been my dream the whole time.”

Hanh says that acting students need to show off their abilities as much as possible.

“When we’re not well known, the only thing we can do is audition. The more we meet filmmakers, the more they’ll remember us.

“Now that acting has helped me out of my singing misfortune, I want to prove how good I really am.”

Reported by Diem Thu