Tuan Lin is playing the role of Nguyen Tat Thanh character as a student at Quoc Hoc high school
Leading roles
Apart from People’s Artist Nguyen Ngoc Binh, Tran Tuan Lin has become a popular actor in the role of Nguyen Tat Thanh – President Ho Chi Minh, on the theatrical stage. Tuan Lin was first selected by People’s Artist Nguyen Ngoc Binh to be in the role of Nguyen Tat Thanh in the play “Ho Chi Minh – the Red Memories”. In addition to his appearance that resembles Uncle Ho when he was young, he is found by Nguyen Ngoc Binh qualities and passion for the theatre.
Despite joining the theatre in 2004, but it was not until 2009 that Tuan Lin was assigned the main role, which was the leading role of Nguyen Tat Thanh. This left him great pressure. He studied documents and photos about Uncle Ho and listened carefully to his voice so that he could vividly re-enact the life of Nguyen Tat Thanh from the time he was a student at Quoc Hoc until he went abroad for the country’s revolutionary way. Accordingly, the audience would be able to apprehend the charisma of a great man in the image of a simple leader.
Tuan Lin is unable to remember how many times he played the role of Nguyen Tat Thanh. “Ho Chi Minh – the Red Memories” is not the only work, as he played the role of Uncle Ho in other programs such as musicals, TV series and movies.
He said, “it is an actor’s honor to play the role of Uncle Ho, so I tried to study historical documents to successfully re-enact the character from his gait to voice and gestures. Once I put on his outfit, I consider myself more mature, and thus I remind myself about the normative daily lifestyle.”
In 2013, Tuan Lin played the role of General Nguyen Chi Thanh in “A Person of Integrity”. It was this role that helped Tuan Lin make impression in his career. Tuan Lin skillfully depicted the revolutionist life of talent and virtue of General Nguyen Chi Thanh on the stage.
Tuan Lin recounted, “In a performance on the occasion of General Nguyen Chi Thanh 100th birthday, Colonel General Nguyen Chi Vinh, the General’s son, made a thanks phone call and said, ‘I recalled my father in the role you played.’ To an actor like me, it was an endless happiness.”
In addition to the above two leading roles, Tuan Lin has been assigned main roles in many other plays performed by the Theatre of Hue Music and Drama such as “the Red River”, “Mothers” and “It was not a criminal case” as well as the play “the Waiting Station” by the Vietnam Television.
Tuan Lin in the role of General Nguyen Chi Thanh in “A Person of Integrity”
Born to fit in with the profession
Tuan Lin, though born to a non-artist family in Minh Hoa district, Quang Binh province, showed his artistic talent very early. Theatre is his fate, or in other words, he was born to fit in with the artist career.
On completion of the course of professional music and drama, Tuan Lin started work at the Theatre of Hue Music and Drama in 2004. The years between 2004 and 2009 were challenging for Tuan Lin but he was never impatient regardless the minor roles he was assigned on the stage. He considered this period of time as the ‘forging’ process for career bravery.
People’s Artist Nguyen Ngoc Binh commented: An artist needs two most essential qualities for success, that is, passion and talent. Tuan Lin is a young artist who has not only met the requirements, but also gained practical experience in career. These have brought him early success and enabled him to undertake leading roles. It is our pleasure to have a generation of inheritors like him.”
In the context that traditional theatre has not been an attraction to audience, Tuan Lin, like many other artists, has had difficulty in pursuing his passion for the theatre. Therefore, he has also worked as a playwright, an event organizer or MC for extra income in order to nourish his passion for traditional art.
His attempts and contributions to arts have brought him many gold and silver medals through national festivals of professional theatre and arts. These awards include a prize for talented actor in the role of Nguyen Tat Thanh in “Ho Chi Minh – the Red Memories” at the 2010 national festival of professional theatre, a gold medal for the role of General Nguyen Chi Thanh in “A Person of Integrity” at the national festival of professional theatrical drama, folk songs and drama in 2013.
Story: MINH HIEN, photo provided by Tuan Lin