Lilian Tran: ‘The makeup profession in Vietnam is stagnant’

– Having worked with American experts in films such as `Love Letter From An Open Grave`, `Death Warriors`… and has collaborated with Victor Vu in many Vietnamese films, she sees the biggest difference when dressing up.

– In America, makeup and makeup work for films is given special attention because it contributes a large part to the visual success of the work.

Each film produced in the US depends on the complexity of the character’s appearance, and the makeup steps are prepared long before filming begins.

In Vietnam, no company has done all of this, no one has done it, and many people don’t even have the concept.

Lilian Tran dressed up actor Thanh Loc on set.

– With the current situation in Vietnam, what difficulties have you encountered while working?

– Some producers think that the makeup stage is not very important, so they often contact them very close to the start of filming.

– Collaborated with director Victor Vu through many films such as `The Mandate of Heaven`, `The Bride of War 2`, `Bloody Heart` or `Scandal: The Return of Glory`… doing makeup for the actors

– I am lucky because Victor Vu is someone who always challenges me to develop my strengths.

I remember most the character of the ghostly old woman walking in the middle of the funeral in the movie Scandal: Red Carpet Secret.

Makeup expert next to the character she created.

– In `Scandal: The Return of Glory`, she once dressed actress Trang Nhung into a `burnt corpse` for just an hour.

– The director gave me time to prepare the steps many months in advance.

– What difficulties does the Vietnamese climate cause for you in maintaining your makeup?

– Vietnam has a hot and humid climate, which is a difficult problem for keeping makeup on the actors’ faces.

Lilian Tran dressed Trang Nhung as a corpse in Scandal: The halo returns.

– The profession of makeup requires not only skill but also agility and keeping up with advanced machinery.

– Western cosmetics and makeup methods are completely different from Vietnam.

When I first returned, when I sent quotes for equipment and cosmetics for film projects, many producers were wondering and surprised, but fortunately they supported me immediately after listening to my explanation and agreed to invest.

– How is makeup for actors when appearing on stage different from when standing in front of the camera?

– Completely different in both technique and material.

– Some famous actors, like Angelina Jolie, for example, also make the mistake of using highlighter when going on the red carpet like when filming, causing their faces to shine under the flash light.

– This is a mistake that many stars make on the red carpet.

I have encountered quite a few similar cases.

– What advice do you have for young people who want to pursue a path like yours?

– Confucius said: `Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.`

Born in Hanoi, Lilian Tran learned to draw when she was 6 years old.

In 2004, she moved to Canada and worked with famous photographers such as Mario Miotti and John Ortner.

In 2009, she returned to Vietnam and became a makeup artist for movies: Mandate of Heaven, Curse of Blood Wormwood, Scandal: Red Carpet Secret, Scandal: Return of Glory…