Impact writer Mike Leeder recently worked on Tracer / Truy Sat and continues to talk to talk to some of of the talent involved in a key part of Vietnam’s rising film industry. Here the multi-tasking Maria Tran talks about her experiences…
Since the early days of her Quest for Jackie Chan documentary, Impact has championed the career of Australian Vietnamese actress and producer Maria Tran. We’ve been able to see her go from strength to strength: from indie action projects like the award winning Hit Girls, through the Roger Corman school of ‘low budget and hard knocks’ film-making, Fists of the Dragon, the Chinese martial arts fight flick Death Mist, Australian action comedy series Maximum Choppage. She’s worn multiple hats as an actress, coordinator, choreographer, host, presenter, producer, writer and occasional stunt double! Her most recent project was the full fledged Vietnamese action thriller Tracer/Truy Sat in which she plays a vengeance seeking boot kicking bad girl. Mike Leeder, who worked on the project, asked her to tell Impact readers about her experiences…
IMPACT: We’re starting all these interviews by asking our interviewees to introduce themselves and tell everyone a little bit about themselves. How did you end up working on a Vietnamese action movie?
MARIA TRAN: I’m an actress and film-Maker based in Sydney, Australia. In the last couple of years I’ve been lucky enough to work on a number of projects including two movies in China, Roger Corman’s Fist of the Dragon and Death Mist, I was Associate Producer for ABC TV’s Maximum Choppage, produced indie Chinese co-pro Take Me to the End of the Earth, and Oscar winning director Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake Season 2. I got onto Tracer/Truy Sat through fight choreographer and action director Trung Ly, who recommended me to the production to play what was initially little more than a cameo role as the character Phuong Seo.
IMPACT: What can you tell us about your character and how much input you were allowed to bring to the character…what do you like most about her?
MARIA The character did not exist in the original script. But after Trung Ly and Thien Nguyen had established themselves in Vietnam they suggested an antagonist female character could make the film more so refreshing to watch. I had a lot of fun playing Phuong Lua (my character was originally Phuong Seo which refers to my character having a nasty scar, but they didn’t end up giving me one so changed the character name). She was a great character to play: very meaty, full of angst, a woman walking the path of vengeance, a character with one sole objective, to take down the policewoman who killed her husband-to-be! I might not have the most to say (dialogue wise), but I tried my best to juice as much on screen when I get a chance to showcase the character and justify her existence in the Tracer world.
IMPACT: The film was produced by (and stars) Truong Ngoc-anh. She’s one of Vietnam’s premier actresses. How did you first meet her and how would you describe working with her?
MARIA: It was such a rare and great opportunity to work with one of the elite members of the Vietnamese film and entertainment industry! I’ve met up with others before, but I have to give all the credit and many thanks to Truong Ngoc-anh as the person to have given us Aussies (Trung, Thien and myself) such an opportunity in the fast-paced and very intense, growing Vietnamese film industry. She is truly a hard working multi-tasking film-maker, getting her hands dirty with hands on producing, not just sitting back and taking the title and the glory, she really put in the time and the effort as Exec Producer and playing the lead character in a genre that’s very new to her. She threw herself into the dramatic side of things so well, but also was really gung-ho with the action, she took her bumps and bruises during the shoot but lead by example. She is such an established star, but she’s a lovely genuine person, who will listen to your ideas, and support them if they make sense, and give you genuine feedback and advice. Anh is like a big sister and I look forward to being able to work with her on many more projects to come.
IMPACT: How did you find working with Director Cuong Ngo and to perform in Vietnamese? I know you speak the language but was it a challenge to really express yourself in the language?
MARIA: Cuong Ngo is a very facilitative director. He gave you your space to explore your character and lets your performance develop without much interruption. He lets you find your way, but he’ll tweak and adjust where necessary. He has a very ‘Zen’ way of directing and I like the fact, that he was calm and collected at all times. Learning lines and delivering them in Vietnamese can be quite tough. It took twice the time to digest and absorb the dialogue than it normally does for me. But it did spark my desire to improve my Vietnamese. I thought it was good, but living and working in Vietnam, made me realise how much more I needed to learn. It really sparked my enthusiasm in learning new words and finding as many ways as possible to converse in the language.
IMPACT: The film features some very high-impact, high-octane fight and stunt sequences choreographed by Trung Ly. How did you find working with him as a choreographer/coordinator and what would you say were some of your biggest challenges physically in the making of the movie?
MARIA: Since 2013, Trung has been working on various film and television projects – from Hit Girls to international projects like Fists of the Dragon and Death Mist, to Australian projects like Maximum Choppage. Trung has been pushing himself and his choreography and fight/stunt design. But one of the biggest challenges that he faced in Truy Sat/Tracer would have to be the number of accessible talent he had at his own disposal. On-set, I recall so many things that he would have to take into consideration, from weather issues, location access, availability of talent, safety equipment and as always the fight to get enough time to get all the sequences he needs to shoot the sequences. There were days when he would have to use his photographic memory and literally shoot all the action on one side, and then weeks later return to the same location and shoot the other side of the sequence… and make sure it cuts together in the editing suite.
Truy Sat (Tracer) on the beach…
IMPACT: The film has a very ‘international’ feel and a very ‘multi-national’ cast and crew, do you think the film has the potential to break out beyond just the Vietnamese market?
MARIA: Both Truong Ngoc-anh and Cuong Ngo made some very brave choices… it was a big chance to select unknown talent from outside of Vietnam. That’s outside of the normal way of doing things. It wasn’t a case of selecting some teen idols or whoever had the most Facebook followers. They were both very open minded and had a very ‘can-do’ attitude when it came to selecting the talent for the film. I remember pitching to them about bringing you (being a ‘sometimes actor’) in from Hong Kong to play the character of ‘Mr Cruise’. They were delighted and very enthusiastic.
IMPACT: What are your strongest memories from the making of the movie? What were the hardest aspects of making the film for you, and also your fondest memories from the film?
MARIA: I loved making this movie! It was fantastic to be traveling around Vietnam during the making of the film, every location and something new. I spent a lot of time onset, even when I wasn’t playing my character. I was overseeing the ‘Behind the Scenes’ crew and making sure they captured all those special moments on set. I got to dabble in-every department pretty much, and tried to make myself useful in every way from assisting the producers through fight design and editing pre-viz through coordinating and help resolve any onset drama! There’s no unimportant job on a film set and I believe if you have the capacity to help make things better, ‘Just Do it’!
IMPACT: If you had to describe ‘Tracer/Truy Sat’ to an audience, to get them excited about going to see the movie. In a few words, how would you describe the movie.
MARIA: I think the film really pushes the limits and raises the bar when it comes to the action film genre for Vietnamese movies! It’s got a great cast, taking audiences on adventure across beautiful locations across the country, and plenty of stylish action scenes… getting to see the Vietnamese Angelina Jolie, Truong Ngoc-anh kicking butt and looking great doing so!
IMPACT: What was it like to work in Vietnam?
MARIA: I feel very privileged to be able to work in the Vietnamese film industry and travel across the country and film in some of its most exotic locations. The scenery and the people are all so lovely and accommodating. I hope to be able to spend a lot more time there and explore the country… just as much as I want to return for future projects and contribute to the industry in the best possible way to showcase Vietnamese culture for the rest of the world to experience.
IMPACT: What’s next for you?
MARIA: I’m currently developing a Vietnamese historical epic that we hope to shoot in the later part of 2017. So it’s back to script-writing for me! I’ve also been selected for the Screen Producer Australia program, “Perfect Producer’ scholarship training program to be developed as one of the country’s up and coming producers to watch. I’m trying to keep busy with some smaller acting roles and collaborations with other film-makers and in my downtime I teach my Screen Acting Fight Essentials Classes in Sydney. I’m not really the party animal, hopping from one red carpet to the other – solid film-making skills is what I’m working to hone, in the hope of being able to make more international works with my filmic buddies in Hong Kong, Vietnam and hopefully Hollywood one day!
Maria Tran action reel:
