Doan Duong Minh: TVB actor who fell into trouble because of gambling, started his life over again thanks to a special profession

In recent years, Doan Duong Minh has rarely acted in films and has focused on business. The veteran artist is receiving attention when he returned to TVB screens after 24 years with a role in the film Black Moonlight.

Doan Duong Minh was born in 1958. He joined the entertainment industry in the late 1980s, leaving his mark on the screen through many works: Happy Harmony (1994 - 1995), Racetrack Owner, People in the Rivers, Snow Mountain Flying Fox (1999), Divine Doctor Hua Tuo... In particular, his name is known to many audiences for his role as the Golden Lion King - Ta Ton in the TVB film Golden Lion King (1994).

Recently, in an interview with HK01, actor Doan Duong Minh shared about his journey of pursuing art, his personal life and his private life at the age of 66. The actor confided that he moved from Macau to Hong Kong at the age of 10. Due to his poor family, the actor had to become independent from the age of 12, doing all kinds of jobs: delivering food, working as a mechanic, nightclub security guard, waiter... to earn money to support his life.

In 1988, thanks to his acquaintance with director Lam Linh Dong and screenwriter Nam Yen, he became involved in film and then participated in The Thunder of Ego (1989) with Chow Yun Fat and Chung So Hung.

In the 90s, he was invited by TVB to act in TV series, but most of them were supporting roles. Besides, he also acted in some ATV series. During that period, the actor was busy filming day and night, sometimes he worked continuously on the set for 6 days without sleep. The veteran artist said that during the time he participated in the Happy Harmony project, he worked hard for 7 months to film more than 170 episodes.

One special thing is that Doan Duong Minh refused to dye his hair even though the director asked him to. Even when his hair was already gray, he still refused to dye his hair to play roles that required a youthful appearance.

In his career, the actor has made more of an impression with his films than his television work. Due to his close contact with Hong Kong's underworld, he often plays characters who are part of the underworld.

Despite earning a lot of money from movies, Doan Duong Minh did not know how to save, instead he "burned" it all on gambling. He once lost all his money, 2 million HKD (equivalent to 7 billion VND). In the 90s, that amount of money could buy 3 apartments in Hong Kong.

"At first, I was worried and thought that at most I would lose a month's salary. But I didn't expect that after only 2 bets, I would lose 200,000 HKD (about 650 million VND). I couldn't accept losing and didn't believe that I would be unlucky forever. I felt that I could get back what I had lost by betting more to win back. I took more money to gamble and kept losing and gradually became a debtor," Doan Duong Minh said.

The Golden Lion King star said that at first he was able to pay off his debt, but due to his competitive nature, his desire to win back what he had lost, he got deeper and deeper into debt. Once, he gambled and lost more than 7 months of his salary.

"It was miserable! Actually, at that time I felt I had a problem and then told myself I would not indulge in it again," the artist born in 1958 confessed. When he turned around, this star realized that he had poured too much of his earnings into gambling and that number amounted to more than 2 million HKD (currently about 6.5 billion VND) - a huge amount of money in the 1990s.

Doan Duong Minh confided that during his most desperate time, he thought of doing something foolish but eventually found the courage to continue living. "I felt that I still had a chance... As long as I was ready to face it, I would overcome everything. Moreover, I was still sought after at that time," he recalled.

To have money to pay off his debt, Doan Duong Minh left Happy Harmony and worked hard for 5 years. "I endured and filmed everything for 5 years, as long as I had money. Joining Happy Harmony did not earn me as much money as I needed. When filming elsewhere, I could earn an amount equal to a month's salary in just a few days. Also for money, I did not hesitate to film bad movies," the veteran artist recalled.

In 2000, Doan Duong Minh felt that he was no longer useful to TVB, the actor decided to leave the station after his contract ended. After leaving the station, the actor of the movie "The Legend of Hua Tuo" continued to act regularly and participated in behind-the-scenes work. During this period, the actor achieved certain success but also experienced many failures. However, he did not mind because all of this helped him accumulate valuable experience.

In addition to his artistic activities, Doan Duong Minh also runs a business. He and his friends opened a restaurant in Macau in 1994 and the business was quite successful. There are rumors that this artist opened a business operating in the funeral industry, but he said that he is not the owner but only the manager and a very small shareholder.

Doan Duong Minh said that many directors still invited him to act in films but he refused because most of them were guest roles with little screen time. "Either he didn't act, or he had to play a slightly more important character," the actor said.

According to HK01, Doan Duong Minh keeps his personal life private. What the outside world knows is that this actor is married and has children. The U70 artist said that although he and his wife are currently divorced, they still maintain a good relationship, and their children are grown up and have their own lives.