Minh Cuc: Actress who only acts in prime-time Vietnamese films, but in real life raises a child with cerebral palsy

Sao Kim Ban Tim Sao Hoa and Doc Dao are two primetime dramas currently airing on VTV. Although the two works exploit completely different topics, they have an interesting thing in common. That is the appearance of actress Minh Cuc.

In Sao Kim Ban Tim Sao Hoa, Minh Cuc plays Khanh, a kindergarten teacher with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Khanh is so neat and tidy that she becomes strange in the eyes of others. She always feels uncomfortable with messy things that do not go her way. Because of this syndrome, Khanh becomes the obsession of her younger brother Nghiem and Trang. However, Khanh is still an extremely kind and loving older sister and is a strong support for her sister-in-law.

In Doc Dao, Minh Cuc plays the role of Ly - a female gangster who always appears next to the mafia boss Duong "muscle". No matter what her personality is, just looking at the interface, everyone is afraid of Ly. The sharp eyes and fierce appearance of the character are portrayed very well by Minh Cuc.

Because Sao Kim Ban Tim Sao Hoa and Doc Dao were filmed at the same time, it is easy to see that in both films, Minh Cuc has the same hairstyle, just a different way of grooming. The most recognizable point between the two characters is that Khanh wears glasses while Ly does not. And with just a pair of glasses, Minh Cuc transforms 180 degrees, from a meticulous kindergarten teacher to a real gangster. Watching both films, the audience is stunned by her "transformation" that is so amazing, the two characters have almost no overlap. From her eyes to her demeanor, Minh Cuc's gait is extremely different.

Actress Minh Cuc was born in 1986 in Hanoi. She started out as an actress in the Vietnam Youth Theater's troupe 1. The works that helped her leave an impression on the audience include Ve Nha Di Con, Huong Vi Tinh Than, Cuoc Doi Van Dep Sao,... On screen, the characters she plays all appear to be very cheerful and fierce, but few people know that in real life she is quite difficult.

In 2009, Minh Cuc got married when her career at Drama Group 1 (Youth Theater) was just beginning to blossom. She and her husband chose to respect each other, not to criticize each other's work or private life. However, that gradually caused the two to drift apart. In 2015, she "went their separate ways" after months of unhappiness. She admitted that her child's illness put pressure on family life.

Remembering the day she gave birth, Minh Cuc shivered. She said that at that time she had pains signaling labor and her water was leaking but she did not receive timely emergency care. The baby passed meconium into her womb, causing the amniotic fluid to turn green. When she was born, the baby had a severe infection, all internal organs were affected, leading to liver, kidney and heart failure. At three weeks old, Tu Minh underwent her first heart surgery. Mother and child were hospitalized for three months after the surgery. The surgery was successful but the baby was diagnosed with brain damage. Upon receiving the results, Minh Cuc did not cry, feel sad or collapse. She told herself that she had to be stronger to take care of and protect her child.

"If I don't love my child, no one else will," Minh Cuc said about her nine-year journey of taking care of her daughter with cerebral palsy in one concise sentence. She always tries to be with her child as much as possible by taking her to work and out.

Tu Minh's life is hard and difficult. Every time the weather changes, she can't sleep all day, her small body struggles to twist, her mouth moans. She has to give her sleeping pills to help her rest and regain her strength. Because her child can't chew, Minh Cuc uses a syringe to pump milk and smoothies. Minh Cuc once did charity work at a center for children with cerebral palsy. When she got there, seeing the children who looked exactly like her child, not being able to live with their families, she burst into tears, telling herself she would never leave Tu Minh.

With a meager salary at the theater, Minh Cuc worked many jobs, including makeup artist and handmade leather goods business, to earn money to take care of her child. Whenever she heard about good medicine or good doctors, she would secretly research and take Tu Minh there for treatment. She had given her child acupuncture for 5 years, to the point where she was used to removing the needles and turning on the acupuncture machine.

Minh Cuc confided that balancing her artistic schedule with taking care of her child is a difficult problem. There was a time when she had to go on business trips to many places for 2 weeks, so she decided to take her child along. At first, Minh Cuc's daughter felt strange and unfamiliar, but now "anyone can take care of her". The actress of "Come Home, My Child" confided: "The good news is that when exposed to life outside, her awareness has improved a lot".

"My children live with me all my life, if my husband doesn't have one, he will have another." She lets her children accompany her in all her work, so that she can have more good hopes from that innocent smile. She has overcome everything so that obstacles are no longer a big problem.

After her marriage ended, Minh Cuc had a new love, but the story still did not have a happy ending. However, she still showed optimism and continued to work to take care of her daughter.