Ngô Thanh Vân (born 26 February 1979), also known as Veronica Ngô or by her initials NTV, is a Vietnamese actress and singer.
Ngô Thanh Vân | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).png) Ngô Thanh Vân in 2019 | |
| Born | 26 February 1979 Trà Vinh, Vietnam |
| Other names | Veronica Ngo |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer, director |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Spouse |
Huy Trần (m. 2022) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Pop, dance |
Early life and education
editNgô Thanh Vân was born on 26 February 1979 in Trà Vinh, Vietnam.[1] She is the youngest child with two older brothers. When she was 10, her family put her in a boat to escape the Vietnamese communist government. In 1990, Vân arrived in Norway as a boat refugee with an aunt.[2][3] She was subsequently naturalized as a Norwegian citizen.
In 1999, at the age of 20, Vân returned to Vietnam where she participated in a beauty pageant organized by the magazine Women's World, and finished as second runner-up. Following this initial success, she launched her modelling career in Vietnam as a model for magazines, calendars, and fashion collections. Soon after, she had her first acting role on the small screen in Hương Dẻ, a short TV series on HTV Channel.
Career
editMusic career
editIn 2002, Vân transitioned into the music scene as a pop-dance singer with the help of producer Quốc Bảo. She recorded a duet album called Vườn tình nhân (Lovers' Garden) with established singer Tuấn Hưng.
The next year, again with the help of producer Quốc Bảo, Vân released her debut solo album, Thế giới trò chơi (Playworld), on 26 February. This album was a power pop-dance LP with the theme "NTV Virus". Two music videos were filmed for the album: "Thế giới trò chơi" and "Ngày tươi sáng", a cover version of jtL's "A Better Day", which was directed by Jackie Chen. These two videos were the first Vietnamese music videos to feature professional special effects and are listed among the most expensive Vietnamese music videos to date.
In 2004, Vân followed up with her second album, Bí ẩn vầng trăng (Mystery of the Moon), which featured a moon theme, on 15 March. Three videos were released from this album: "Bí ẩn vầng trăng", the cheerleader-themed "Vươn đến tầm cao" ("Reach for the Sky"), and the ballad "Khi nào em buồn" ("Whenever I'm Sad"), which was later covered by many artists including Mắt Ngọc, Minh Thuận, and Thanh Thảo.
On 5 September 2005, Vân released her third album, Con đường em đi (My Way). This album was produced by Vân herself and featured a collaboration with a group of producers called The Dreams.[4] My Way featured multiple genres, from alternative rock to pop, R&B, and hip hop. She remixed the famous Trịnh Công Sơn song "Quỳnh Hương".
In autumn 2006, after a two-month break in America, Vân returned to Vietnam, and started recording her fourth album which she promised would be a dance anthem record. In October 2006, Vân premiered one of her new songs "I Won't Stop Loving You," a new collaboration with Quốc Bảo, on the final episode of 21st Century Woman on VTV. Due to heavy promotion for her film The Rebel, the album release was pushed back to the summer of 2007. In May 2007, Vân announced that the fourth album title would be Studio 68 and claimed that 68 was her lucky number. She released Studio 68 on 10 January 2008.[5]
In 2006, Vân signed a contract to appear in the long-running music and comedy show Van Son, produced by Van Son Entertainment, an overseas Vietnamese music production company. She has since appeared in every Van Son DVD release to date.[6]
During the first months of 2008, Vân began working on her next album Nước mắt thiên thần (Tears of Angel), while Studio 68 was awarded Most Creative Album in a monthly Album Vang prize.
Acting career
editIn 2004, Vân made her first international appearance in Rouge, a 13-part late night television series that aired on AZN Television.[7] Rouge was produced by MTV Asia & MediaCorp Singapore and was broadcast widely in Asia and Australia.[citation needed] For the remainder of the year, Ngo was busy with the promotional campaign for Rouge throughout Asia and the recording of her third album. She was chosen as the favorite actress in Rouge on the MTV Asia website.[7]
After the release of her album My Way, Vân continued acting, with many starring roles in films such as Saigon Love Story directed by Ringo Le, 2 in 1 directed by Dao Duy Phuc, and The Rebel directed by Charlie Nguyễn with Johnny Trí Nguyễn, the latter becoming (at that point) Vietnam's highest-grossing film of all time.[8] Vân's performance was highly praised by both critics and the public,[citation needed] and earned her the Best Actress Award at the 15th Vietnam Film Festival.[9] She was also nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Kite Awards for the second time.[citation needed] In the spring of 2007, Vân also starred in a new thriller called Ngôi nhà bí ẩn, which premiered in Vietnamese cinemas in November 2007.
2009 saw Vân once again starring beside Johnny Trí Nguyễn in a Chanh Phuong action movie Clash.[10] She also opened her own talent agency called VAA.[11]
In 2010, Vân competed as a contestant in the Vietnamese version of Dancing With The Stars. She finished as the winner of season one.[12] After winning, Vân revealed that she would return to music in 2011. That autumn, she embarked on a national promotional tour.
In 2016, she appeared in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny and starred in Tấm Cám: The Untold Story.[11]
In 2017, she played Paige Tico, the older sister to Rose Tico, in The Last Jedi.[13] Although her screen time was brief, her character's death was an important act of self-sacrifice that affected the major characters in the film, especially Rose.[14] Later in 2017, she played Tien, an Inferni elf enforcer working for Leilah, the main antagonist in the Netflix film Bright.[15]
In 2019, she starred in Vietnamese action film Furie (Hai Phượng), which later became the highest grossing domestic film of all time in Vietnam.[16] In 2020, she appeared in The Old Guard beside Charlize Theron and in Spike Lee's film Da 5 Bloods with Chadwick Boseman.
The same year, Vân was selected to jury the New York Asian Film Festival.[17]
Personal life
editAfter the success of The Rebel, Vân publicly revealed her relationship with co-star Johnny Trí Nguyễn, which was rumored to have ended his marriage with Cathy Viet Thi, a singer on Van Son.[18] The couple separated in 2015.
In March 2022, Ngo announced her engagement to businessman Huy Trần.[19] She and Trần wed on 7 May 2022, at a ceremony held in the city of Da Nang.[20]
Discography
edit- 2002: Vườn tình nhân (Lovers' Garden), featuring Tuấn Hưng
- 2003: Thế giới trò chơi (Playworld)
- 2004: Bí ẩn vầng trăng (Mystery of the Moon)
- 2005: Con đường em đi (My Way)
- 2008: Studio 68 (Heaven: The Virus Remix)
- 2008: Nước mắt thiên thần (Tears of Angel)
Filmography
editTelevision
edit| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Hương Dẻ | |
| 2004 | Rouge | credited as Thanh Van Ngo |
| 2007-2009 | Cô Gái Xấu Xí | Vietnamese version of Ugly Betty - Cameo |
| 2010 | Bước nhảy hoàn vũ | Vietnamese version of Dancing with the Stars - WINNER |
| 2013 | Project Runway Vietnam | Judge |
Film
edit| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Original title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 2 in 1 | 2 trong 1 | Như Lan | |
| Saigon Love Story | Chuyện tình Sài Gòn | Tâm | Credited as Thanh Van Ngo (shot in 2004) | |
| 2007 | The Rebel | Dòng máu anh hùng | Võ Thanh Thúy | Credited as Ngo Thanh Van |
| Ngôi nhà bí ân | Trúc | Credited as Thanh Van Ngo | ||
| 2009 | Clash | Bẫy rồng | Trinh / Phoenix | Credited as Ngo Thanh Van |
| 2011 | Pearls of the Far East | Ngọc viễn đông | Sister | Credited as Thanh Van Ngo |
| 2012 | House in the Alley | Ngôi nhà trong hẻm | Thảo | |
| 2013 | Once Upon a Time in Vietnam | Lửa Phật | Ánh | Credited as Thanh Van Ngo |
| 2015 | The Lost Dragon | Ngày nảy ngày nay | Đan Nương | |
| 2016 | Bitcoin Heist | Siêu trộm | Kỳ | |
| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny | Mantis | Credited as Thanh Van Ngo | ||
| Tam Cam: The Untold Story | Tấm Cám: Chuyện chưa kể | The stepmother | Ngo's directorial debut | |
| 2017 | The Tailor | Cô Ba Sài Gòn | Thanh Mai | Credited as Ngo Thanh Van |
| Star Wars: The Last Jedi | Paige Tico | |||
| Bright | Tien | |||
| 2018 | Going Home for Tet | Về quê ăn Tết | Đậu Xanh | |
| 2019 | Furie | Hai Phượng | Hai Phượng | Credited as Ngo Thanh Van |
| 2020 | Da 5 Bloods | Hanoi Hannah | ||
| The Old Guard | Quynh | Credited as Van Veronica Ngo | ||
| 2022 | The Princess | Linh | ||
| Furies | Thanh Sói | Jacqueline (Lin) Hoang | ||
| 2023 | The Creator | Kami | ||
| TBA | The Old Guard 2 † | Quynh | Post-production[21] | |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Vietnam Film Festival | Best Actress (Feature Film) | The Rebel | Won | |
| 2009 | Kite Awards | Best Leading Actress | Clash | Nominated | |
| 2016 | Silver Kite (as producer) | Tam Cam: The Untold Story | Won | ||
| Best Director | Nominated | ||||
| 2019 | Vietnam Film Festival | Best Actress (Feature Film) | Furie | Nominated | |
| Silver Lotus (as producer) | Won | ||||
| Golden Lotus (as producer) | Song Lang | Won | |||
| 2021 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Da 5 Bloods | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ Ngô Thanh Vân mừng tuổi 41, 27 February 2020
- ^ "Norges "hemmelige" Hollywood-stjerne". 10 August 2021.
- ^ "Norwegian-Vietnamese Veronica Ngo is Norway's "secret" Hollywood star". 17 August 2021.
- ^ 'My way' của Ngô Thanh Vân có nguy cơ bị thu hồi VnExpress 16 September 2005
- ^ "Ngô Thanh Vân sẽ giới thiệu "Studio '68" tại vũ trường" [Ngô Thanh Vân will introduce "Studio" 68 "at the disco]. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ "Ngô Thanh Vân diễn hài trong chương trình Vân Sơn" [Ngô Thanh Vân is a comedian in Van Son show]. VnExpress (in Vietnamese). 12 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ a b "Ngô Thanh Vân". Elle (in Vietnamese).
- ^ G. Allen Johnson (6 March 2011). Johnny Tri Nguyen finds movie stardom in Vietnam 2011 "Nguyen is the martial arts hero, screenwriter and co-producer in both, and his real-life love, Thanh Vân Ngô, is the female star of both films (they're Vietnam's version of Brangelina)."
- ^ "Liên hoan phim Việt Nam lần thứ XV" (in Vietnamese). Thegioidienanh.vn. 3 December 2009. Archived from the original on 14 December 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ "Ngô Thanh Vân 'nóng bỏng' cùng Johnny Trí Nguyễn" (in Vietnamese). 20 March 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ a b "Phỏng vấn độc quyền Ngô Thanh Vân: "Hoa hồng đều có gai"" [Exclusive interview with Ngô Thanh Vân: "Roses have thorns"]. Harper's Bazaar (in Vietnamese). 28 March 2016.
- ^ "Ngô Thanh Vân triumphs at Dancing with the Stars". Saigon Times. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ Kamp, David (24 May 2017). "Cover Story: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Definitive Preview". Vanity Fair.
- ^ Ryan General (18 December 2017). "Meet the Asian Woman Who Played the Biggest Part of All in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'". nextshark.com. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ David Vo (12 December 2017). "M.A.A.C. – NGO THANH VAN aka VERONICA NGO Stars Alongside WILL SMITH In Netflix's BRIGHT. UPDATE: Trailer #3". maactioncinema.com. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ Lâm Lê (8 March 2019). "Phim Hai Phượng kỷ lục phòng vé Việt Nam, gây ấn tượng ở Mỹ" (in Vietnamese). BBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ "Actress joins jury of New York Asian film fest 2019". Vietnam News Agency. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ "So nhan sắc 3 người phụ nữ có ảnh hưởng lớn với Johnny Trí Nguyễn" [The beauty of 3 women who have a big influence on Johnny Tri Nguyen] (in Vietnamese). 2 November 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ "Ngô Thanh Vân đính hôn với Huy Trần" (in Vietnamese). 14 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "Ngô Thanh Vân khóc trong đám cưới, tuyên bố sẵn sàng làm mẹ ở tuổi 43" (in Vietnamese). 8 May 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
- ^ Rajput, Priyanca (23 September 2022). "Netflix's The Old Guard 2 wraps filming in Rome". KFTV.com.
External links
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