Le Quoc Nam: Artist with a life of many ups and downs, lost 4 billion in business for 3 years and had to "rely on" Hong Van

Director Le Quoc Nam can be called "the banyan tree" in the Vietnamese television industry. Besides certain successes, the late-life director once had a turbulent life that few people know about.

Le Quoc Nam is considered by people in the world to be a talented artist, his greatest talent is making others famous. Le Quoc Nam is known to the audience as a comedian. He also has many other talents, but because of his eccentric personality, he gave up many opportunities to become a big star.

Now, Le Quoc Nam accepts a quiet life behind the scenes. He is satisfied with his current life. Le Quoc Nam is collaborating on the theater stage of artist Hong Van, a member of the Vietnam Artists Association, and a member of the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association.

Le Quoc Nam performed his international duty in Cambodia, going to real battles, not a mere soldier sitting in an office. Wounded, Le Quoc Nam retired from the army and returned to Vietnam. Le Quoc Nam studied for the exam and applied to 3 schools: University of Economics, University of Architecture, and Ho Chi Minh City College of Theater and Cinema. Le Quoc Nam passed the University of Economics and the College of Theater.

While everyone was eager to study the trendy economics major, Le Quoc Nam pushed aside and focused on art school. Because he studied his favorite field, Le Quoc Nam soon proved his talent. Since his first year of university, Le Quoc Nam and classmate Hoang Tung founded the comedy group Black and White. 3 years later, the comedy group Black and White led by Le Quoc Nam won 1 gold and 1 silver at the Ho Chi Minh City Comedy Theater Festival. Black and White became a powerful and charming comedy group loved by the audience. The special static comedy style made the group a phenomenon when the comedy industry was in its heyday.

Le Quoc Nam has more than 20 years of experience with art, and is a colleague of many stars in the Saigon theater scene such as: Thanh Bach, Ngoc Giau, Hoai Linh, Xuan Huong... Group members Comedies founded by Le Quoc Nam such as: Hoang Tung, Anh Vu, Minh Beo... have all become famous on the southern theater stage. Before coming to Le Quoc Nam, they were all at the starting line at number 0.

Le Quoc Nam introduced Hong Van to the theater audience as a director through the horror play 246. Next was play 357. Le Quoc Nam's first two plays were closely followed by People's Artist Hong Van to refine the plays, but Later, People's Artist Hong Van gave him full authority to make decisions. A series of Le Quoc Nam's following plays such as: Omen, Oan soul story, Dinh realm... all received positive feedback from the audience.

To increase his income, Le Quoc Nam opened Saigon 1975 cafe. The cafe is Le Quoc Nam's passion. He collected many memorabilia and photos from the Vietnam War. Le Quoc Nam's cafe is like a small museum, a meeting place for many artists. Many veterans come to Le Quoc Nam's cafe to reminisce about the time of fire and smoke. In particular, Le Quoc Nam's cafe does not receive Chinese customers. Le Quoc Nam clearly wrote the words: "We would like to exempt ourselves from receiving Chinese tourists."

Le Quoc Nam used to drive a boxcar to work, while artists at that time drove a Vespa as luxury. The actor also has a hobby of collecting antiques displayed in his house. However, he admitted that he has no goal of getting rich. Le Quoc Nam's dressing style has long been as simple and rustic as the roles he has taken on.

When his career was at its peak, Le Quoc Nam turned to business. He put all his m.oney into opening a coffee shop but suffered heavy losses and fell into nothing. To pay off the huge debt, the actor had to sell his entire garage.

Artist Le Quoc Nam explains very clearly: "I have no goal of getting rich. I m.ake m.oney to serve my hobbies. 3 years ago, Saigon 1975 coffee shop was born and everything started from "From being an artist to doing business is indeed quite a difficult job."

"In order to maintain the restaurant, m.oney was used up one by one. In order to maintain the restaurant as a place to preserve the memories of many people and my childhood in Saigon before 1975, I began to fall into debt. .. Before opening the shop, I weighed 89 kg, and now I'm 72 kg..." the male director said.

Artist Le Quoc Nam said that in addition to the m.oney he had saved so far to open the shop, during 3 years of business he had lost up to 4 billion VND, all of which he also had to borrow from the bank. But the loan amount that must be paid for both principal and interest is too terrible for him.

"I can only say it's a tragedy. I decided to 'cut my debt' by selling my house and car to pay off all my debt. I successfully 'cut my debt', and seem to be luckier than many bankrupt people." "Still deep in debt" - Le Quoc Nam shared.

Director Le Quoc Nam revealed that he was one of the first artists to own a car in Vietnam, but because business was not going well, two cars had to be sold to get m.oney to pay interest on the bank. row. Seeing that Le Quoc Nam often went to the Phu Nhuan theater stage by Grab, People's Artist Hong Van lent him a motorbike to facilitate transportation during work.

Le Quoc Nam once had a health incident and almost did not survive. In 2008, the actor was on duty at the funeral of artist Le Vu Cau. Staying up for 4 consecutive nights caused him to have a heart attack. Luckily, Le Quoc Nam was taken to the emergency room in time and was out of danger.

At the time of filming Sister Muoi Ba, Le Quoc Nam also had an accident. The harsh weather combined with vigorous activities made him have difficulty breathing and had sharp pain in his chest. When taken to the emergency room, the doctor said that just a little longer and the actor would not have been able to save his life.

Once "relying" on the motorbike loaned by People's Artist Hong Van. However, this motorbike will soon be returned to Hong Van because he is looking to buy the newest car for himself to continue traveling on his passion for art.

Meritorious Artist Vu Xuan Trang: From ticket checker, soap seller to multi-talented artist, best-selling director Minh Lợi16:21:46 15/01/2024Living in the atmosphere of theatrical art since childhood, from being a ticket taker and backstage light worker, he officially stepped onto the stage as an actor and then a director and screenwriter of the Hong theater stage. Cloud.