Tra My "Third Wife": 13-year-old was "torn up" for filming adult scenes, giving birth, now after a series of noises?

4 years after the project "Wife Ba", Nguyen Phuong Tra My is now an 18-year-old girl with a beautiful face that causes memories and talking eyes. After a series of controversies because of her debut role, Tra My became more private and picky in her projects.

Wife Ba is one of the most controversial Vietnamese films in 2019. Released to domestic audiences after creating a buzz at many international film festivals, the debut film of female director Nguyen Phuong Anh (English name Ash Mayfair) created mixed opinions because of the sensitive scenes played by actress Tra My (born in 2004) when she was only 13 years old.

After only 4 days of release, the audience suddenly heard that the producer announced to withdraw the film from the entire theater system. At the same time, the Ministry of VH-TT&DL requested in writing the Film Department to explain the licensing of the film "Third Wife". As a result, the inspectorate of the Ministry of Information and Communications issued a decision to administratively sanction the producer of VND 50 million for the act of "Adding/falsifying film content that has been allowed to be disseminated". The film was stopped despite the crew and Tra My's family insisting that the scenes were done safely, with the supervision of the actress's mother.

Nguyen Phuong Tra My – the 13-year-old female lead in the film later also became the focus, the actress was criticized for filming adult scenes with the actor who was 30 years older than her, Tra My was 13 years old at the time. Many websites criticized Tra My's family for allowing her to star in adult films, including scenes of her pregnancy and childbirth. I was 13 years old at the time of filming.

The actress' mother received a lot of heavy criticism from netizens for letting her daughter play the lead role, which they said was not suitable for a 13-year-old girl. Many people even think that Tra My's family "sells their children" for money. Speaking to the media at the time, actress Tra My's mother said she also read articles related to the film but not much. Both she and her daughter knew the negative information was directed at them but felt normal.

In the face of a wave of intense criticism regarding her daughter's filming at the age of 13, the actress' mother could not remain silent. Actress Tra My's mother shared: "Why don't you care about how happy my mother and daughter are when they see with their own eyes how touched and applauded international viewers are after watching the film? Internationally, audiences, especially older viewers, lined up for hours to get autographs and say thank you to the crew for giving them a great moment while enjoying The Third Wife? but you keep tearing into the fact that my child Tra My will be affected by this and that from the movie, you are afraid that my child will not develop normally...

Let me tell you: I, as a mother, am responsible for my child's development and future. And my mother and I completely trust each other, trust in our choices. Then why don't you believe it?"

Despite causing controversy for her role, Tra My still received a lot of praise for her impressive acting. The film also received good reactions overseas. The actress was only 13 years old at the time but was constantly quoted in many international newspapers. Speaking to foreign newspapers, director Ash Mayfair said that the Vietnam Film Department offered to send the film back for censorship again but the entire crew unanimously refused because they did not want the film to be cut further.

Talking about her controversial role, Tra My once shared, "Before casting for the drama, I didn't know anything about the character beforehand. When I arrived at the audition site, I was assigned to a different character by the production team and the director, not Cloud. Initially, I was targeted for the role of Snow, which is quite a small role in the film. But it seems that after watching, the director saw that he was suitable for the role of Cloud, so she changed it and let him try out for this role. After the casting she told me to go home, and then she sent the script to my mom first, who then let me read it too.

The context of Wife Three is really new. And more than that is the character Cloud, a little girl who has to go through pregnancy, giving birth even at a very young age. Those are experiences I've never known. My family is mostly opposed, and my mother has no intention of allowing me to participate in this film. However, Ms. Nguyen Phuong Anh has often met and persuaded me and my mother for a long time, when she found me suitable for this role of May. Later, my mother worked with the producer again, and I was sent back another script that had been distilled more than the one she had originally received to fit me.

The director had a very detailed explanation. Especially, the meaning of those sensitive scenes is artistic, without any vulgarity or nakedness. However, when she knew she had to perform the birth scene, she was terrified. Ms. Maya, Ms. Nhu Quynh and Ms. Phuong Anh have all helped me a lot. When I filmed that scene, I cried, crying because it was one thing to show that it was one thing to hurt to give birth, I cried partly because I was scared and because I was so tired.

After a series of noises with her debut role, at the age of 18, Tra My has now become a lovely and gentle young woman. She is now grown up, the actress's face has symmetrical, beautiful, gentle features. Many viewers predict that with this beautiful beauty, Tra My will most likely be a future "pearl" of Vietnamese screen.

After filming The Third Wife, Tra My focused on her studies and rarely participated in entertainment events. In 2020, Tra My rarely received the female lead role in 1 MV. Now, the actress is in 12th grade and will occasionally show off photos of herself wearing a tender dress on her personal page. Her lovely, soothing beauty was praised by many viewers.

Currently, Tra My is still following the path of acting. However, she and her mother would consider taking only roles that suited them. The actress once revealed that at the time of the movie The Third Wife just released and there were mixed opinions, she also faced a lot of pressure. Not only that, Tra My's academic achievements were also scrutinized.

After a lot of noise surrounding her role in the movie Wife Ba, Tra My is somewhat picky about the next projects that she participates in. Currently, Tra My focuses mainly on completing high school. Occasionally, the young actress is seen appearing at film launch events or posting PR posts on her personal page.