Linh Dan Pham (born Phạm Linh Đan, June 20, 1974) is a Vietnamese-born French actress.

Linh Dan Pham
Linh Dan Pham at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Born (1974-06-20) June 20, 1974 (age 50)
Years active1992–present
Spouse
Andrew Huntley
(m. 2000)

Biography

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She was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, but moved with her family to Paris, France, a year later, just before the capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. She has also lived in New York, The Hague, Singapore and Vietnam, and now resides in London.[citation needed]

She is known most for her role as an orphan of the Nguyen dynasty adopted by a French plantation owner in the 1992 Oscar-winning French epic Indochine, starring alongside Catherine Deneuve. Pham received a César nomination for most promising actress for that performance.

Despite appearing in a few other productions afterwards, Pham eventually decided to take a decade off from acting, focusing instead on her studies. She studied commerce and worked as a senior marketing manager in Vietnam after graduation.

In 2000, she married Andrew Huntley, a British investment banker whom she had met while they were both living in Ho Chi Minh City.

She began her return to film when she trained in acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.[citation needed]

In 2005, Pham made a return to acting with her role in the BAFTA and César winning French film The Beat That My Heart Skipped, opposite Romain Duris, for which she was nominated again for the most promising actress César award (and won). Her lines are spoken in Vietnamese with a Northern accent, and though many people believe[who?][citation needed] she plays a Chinese character because she is introduced by a Chinese musician friend who knows her from Beijing, in fact she plays a Vietnamese who studied music at the conservatory in Beijing. In the film her friend claims that she can speak Chinese, Vietnamese and a little English. In reality Pham speaks French, English and Vietnamese fluently.

In that same year, Pham appeared on a popular Vietnamese diaspora music variety show (Trung Tam Asia) where she was honored for her work.

In 2005, Pham moved back to Europe to pursue her acting career. Since then she has appeared in lead or supporting roles mostly in films such as Dante 01, Pars vite et reviens tard (Have Mercy on Us All), Mr. Nobody, Le Bruit des Gens Autour, Le bal des actrices and Tout ce qui brille.

She starred in her first Vietnamese production when she appeared as Cam in the 2009 film Adrift ("Chơi vơi") by the director Bui Thac Chuyen, which won the FIPRESCI award at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. The film deals with social and personal issues in modern-day Vietnam, which are not often portrayed in Vietnamese cinema, such as homosexuality and loneliness. In the film Pham speaks in Vietnamese with a fluent Northern accent.[1]

She had a cameo role in the 2010 The Wachowskis produced action thriller Ninja Assassin, playing an assassin sent to kill the film's hero played by the Korean singer Rain.

Filmography

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Pham at the premiere of Mr. Nobody at the 66th Venice International Film Festival
Year Title Role Director Notes
1992 Indochine Camille Régis Wargnier Nominated – César Award for Most Promising Actress
1993 A Ba River Too Far [ko] Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy Lee Kang-hoon South Korean TV Series
1994 Lai Daihan (film) [ko] Susan Seo Yun-mo South Korean Movie
1994 Jamila Jamila Monica Teuber [de]
2005 Les mauvais joueurs Lu Ann Frédéric Balekdjian
The Beat That My Heart Skipped Miao Lin Jacques Audiard César Award for Most Promising Actress
2006 Les hommes de coeur Nawin Édouard Molinaro TV series (1 episode)
Zoo Doctor: My Mom the Vet Chea San Mathias Luther TV series (1 episode)
2007 Have Mercy on Us All Camille Régis Wargnier
This Life + 10 Me-Linh Joe Ahearne TV movie
2008 Dante 01 Elisa Marc Caro
Le bruit des gens autour The spectator Diastème
2009 Adrift Câm Bui Thac Chuyên
Mr. Nobody Jeanne Jaco Van Dormael
Ninja Assassin Pretty Ninja James McTeigue
All About Actresses Herself Maïwenn
Pigalle, la nuit Sinh Hervé Hadmar TV mini-series
2010 Tout ce qui brille Joan Hervé Mimran & Géraldine Nakache
2011 De force Ahn Frank Henry
The Shape of Art to Come Julien Levy Short
2012 Associés contre le crime Marie Van Dinh Pascal Thomas
Zombie chéri Aurore Jérôme Genevray Short
2013 Les yeux fermés Claire Jessica Palud
The Big Bad Wolf Lai Nicolas & Bruno
2014 Divin Enfant Marie Olivier Doran
Dépareillé Michaël Pierrard Short
The Innovators Mic-Mac Carmen Chaplin Short
One Child Pan Qianyi John Alexander TV mini-series
2015 The Very Private Life of Mister Sim Liam Michel Leclerc
2016 Uchronia The secretary Christophe Goffette
2018 Casualty Anh Tran Karen Kelly TV series (1 episode)
2019 Allée des Jasmins Loan Stéphane Ly-Cuong Short
Qu'un sang impur... Abdel Raouf Dafri
2020 Faites des gosses Meï Philippe Lefebvre TV series
2021 Blue Bayou Parker Justin Chon

Theater

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Year Title Author Director
2018 Certaines n'avaient jamais vu la mer Julie Otsuka Richard Brunel

References

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  1. ^ "'Vua vọng cổ' Viễn Châu qua đời". February 2016.
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