Since its debut, Journey to the West has been re-aired a staggering 4,000 times, becoming a classic in the hearts of the audience. The actors in the series are beloved figures. However, not everyone knows that the director, Yang Kiet, has a long-standing grudge against four of the main actors, leaving her wanting to revisit her “spiritual child”.
It is known that after being appointed as director of the Journey to the West series, Yang Kiet faced countless challenges regarding vision, technical capabilities, and the difficulties of casting. She had to go through rigorous auditions, especially for the role of “Bach Cot Tinh”, which turned out to be a permanent thorn in her side.
With extraordinary talents and skills, Yang Kiet led the Journey to the West crew throughout China to find suitable filming locations. Nevertheless, the film was so poor that it only had a single Sony 300P camera and a “three-way tripod” that achieved unprecedented success. With a rating of up to 89%, Journey to the West received overwhelming public recognition, and the cast quickly rose to fame, especially the four actors who played Tang Seng.
Initially, Yang Kiet was against having the actors leave the show due to the sacred feelings of the characters towards the audience. By the end of November 1987, the Journey to the West crew was invited to perform in Singapore with a high remuneration, and the director intended for the actors to have the opportunity to earn more after six years of hard filming.
However, during the Lunar New Year break in 1988, when Yang Kiet was preparing a rehearsal for the show, Luc Tieu Linh, Ma Duc Hoa, and Diem Hoai Le all requested to quit. It turned out that the three actors had participated in an event in Southern China along with “the handsomest Duong Tang” Tieu Thieu Hoa. Upon hearing this news, Yang Kiet was furious and sternly reprimanded them. This incident caused Duong Tang to be very upset and seek ways to retaliate.
Luc Tieu Linh, Ma Duc Hoa, and Diem Hoai Le publicly criticized Yang Kiet with the head of the studio while trying to distance themselves from her. Notably, the other actors in Journey to the West were still cautious about interacting closely with director Yang Kiet, and did not visit her home as they once did. Only male singer Tuong Dai Vu, the singer of the film Xin Loi Duong Toi Noi Dau, dared to openly criticize Yang Kiet. The way others treated her left Yang Kiet feeling utterly depressed and demoralized. She did not participate in the performances in Singapore, even stating: “From now on, whether I rise to heaven or fall to the underworld, I will not work with her again.”
Director Yang Kiet has not watched Journey to the West in over a decade since its success. She shared: “Journey to the West will always be a painful memory for me. For the past ten years, I have never watched it; just seeing it on TV makes me uncomfortable. After the bitter experience, in my heart, this film has become a tragedy.”
The relationship between both sides was so strained that in 1994, director Yang, at the age of 69, was rumored to return to direct the second part of Journey to the West. At that time, Luc Tieu Linh, Ma Duc Hoa, and Diem Hoai Le all apologized and approached her multiple times, hoping Yang Kiet would erase the past grievances. Many people questioned whether the three actors would truly reconcile with Yang Kiet or just “back down” due to their desire for fame.
As a result, in Journey to the West 2, apart from “Ngo Khong” played by Luc Tieu Linh and “Duong Tang” portrayed by Tri Tranh Thuy, the rest of the cast were said to “change color”. Because of this, Ma Duc Hoa publicly expressed his willingness to support Yang Kiet behind the scenes, not respecting the audience when replacing the actor in the role of “Lao Tru”.
In 2017, when Yang Kiet passed away, the cast of Journey to the West, including Luc Tieu Linh and Ma Duc Hoa, attended her memorial service (Diem Hoai Le had already passed away). However, Luc Tieu Linh made the showbiz community gasp when he did something extremely rude right at the director’s funeral. He took the opportunity to promote his new film and even declared: “Only with this film can I rest easy with director Yang Kiet.”
For this reason, “Ton Ngo Khong” must always receive countless negative remarks from the public, with images becoming increasingly tarnished in the public eye. At the same time, many people still question whether the past grievances between Yang Kiet and the three actors have been resolved or not.
Source: Thepaper
