Quach Thu Phuong: I do not regret giving up acting to take care of my family.

13 years ago, at that time you were a "key" actress at the Youth Theater, the most beloved beauty on the small screen... You suddenly stopped everything, announced to stop acting, left the theater, to spend time taking care of your family. If you once opened your heart, could you share the difficulties when facing that decision?

Every choice has its price. That price, sometimes not paid by us, but by our loved ones who have to pay for our choices.

When I gave birth to my first child, I had to work from morning to night. At that time, my child was only 2 months old, I was so busy with filming that I almost had to leave my child at home. There were nights when I got home at 1-2am. At 5:30am I had to get up again to continue filming.

On set, my milk was dripping all over my shirt, and my baby was crying because he was thirsty. Those things haunted me. There was also a time when I followed the theater on tour, sometimes for 10-15 days without returning home. When I returned home, my baby no longer recognized me.

My children had to sacrifice for their mother because she was too busy. I realized that I had not fulfilled my role as a mother. But at that time, life was difficult, I shouldered the pressure of making a living. I did not work, I had no money to pay for things. I remember that time, I was under terrible pressure.

Until now, I still tell my daughter that in any choice, there must be sacrifice. My daughter has sacrificed for my career choices. She has suffered a lot when her mother is busy, worrying about finances.

So, when I gave birth to my second child, I decided to stop everything to take care of my children and family. I thought for a long time and asked myself, was it worth it to choose a job to be away from my children like that?

Finally, I decided to quit acting and leave the theater. 13 years is a very long time in the life of an artist, but it is a necessary time for my children's childhood.

Have you ever wondered how far you would have gone if you had continued acting and been a screen beauty?

I don't regret anything. I don't regret it, because like I said, every choice has its price. If I regret it, my 13 years off would be meaningless.

During those 13 years, being able to stay with my family and take care of the children was the value I received.

My children have grown up well, well-behaved and mature - that is my achievement. For a parent like me, children are the greatest achievement. My destination is not fame. Fame is important, but fame only has meaning when I have fulfilled my responsibilities to my family.

I think I gained more than I lost.

There are many famous artists who can still take care of their work and responsibilities as wives and mothers without leaving the screen. Or are you too much of a perfectionist?

I am a family type of woman, always family oriented.

Friends still say, even at the peak of her career, with radiant beauty,Quach Thu PhuongAlways a hard-working, diligent woman, willing to do all the housework from laundry, cooking, to taking care of the children...

Exactly.

On the other side of the story, each of us also needs to live our own lives. We can only be ourselves when we do the work we are passionate about and love. It is known that when choosing family and putting aside all career, you also had to face a difficult time. That 13-year journey is also Quach Thu Phuong's journey to find herself again...?

After I quit my job, I had a period of disappointment and depression. I suppressed all my emotions and endured it alone. But at a certain point, I felt that something was wrong. I easily got angry with everything around me, kicked the bucket, my family was tense, I scolded my children unreasonably...

There are things that are not worth it, but I overdo it. And then, I am still sober enough to realize that, that is not okay, I have to balance it out.

I came to yoga. It was yoga that helped me change my thinking, state, psychology, health... After that, I became a yoga instructor.

I have had a 13-year journey of overcoming myself and being reborn. I am now a new version of Quach Thu Phuong. I discovered myself to find myself, I live a happier, more positive, and more open life.

When I returned to acting, my colleagues all said I was like a different person. Before, I lived a closed life and always kept everything to myself, suppressing all my feelings inside.

After going through the storm, have you been "reborn" in your perspective on marriage and happiness?

In a marriage, women tend to think they are at a disadvantage, but men also have their own hardships. Men have to shoulder a lot of responsibilities for their family, wife and children. They live between the pressure of work and family responsibilities.

I read the book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”. Men and women are two completely different worlds, from instinct to thinking, to the way of looking at life. Therefore, when living together, both have to endure, and learn to accept each other.

Love is a medicine with an expiry date. Only sharing and understanding can help a marriage last.

Do you think that people who have experienced and been through pain will be more tolerant when looking back?

Maybe so. You will realize that things are actually very simple. When you think and react negatively, the first person to be hurt is you.

Each of us avoids hurting others is to avoid hurting ourselves.

I read a lot and realized many values. I learned how to live positively, think positively, to make myself happy and peaceful from within.

It will take a long journey for us to realize that, if in everything, we put ourselves in the other person's shoes to think, we will act more thoughtfully, instead of just thinking about ourselves.

As life becomes more modern, human psychology becomes more complex, and most people emphasize their ego. Do you think that the theory and practice of marriage will increasingly diverge?

Ideology in each generation has its own values, its own characteristics. Marriage now is very different from before.

In my opinion, the biggest difference is endurance. With my parents' generation, no matter what happens, they will endure.

They confront notions, prejudices and ideas that are deeply ingrained in the general thinking of society.

Nowadays, the divorce rate is increasing because young people do not want to endure it anymore. This view is not wrong.

When a conflict goes beyond the limit, one person feels disrespected, they do not need to maintain that relationship.

Young people today dare to think, dare to speak, dare to act. They want to enjoy life to the fullest, believing that life is short, not as long as we think.

But we should not live in a hurry and make the wrong decision. If it is no longer suitable, we should gently let go to move towards a happier life.

Now, how do you describe happiness?

It is peace and gentleness. It is joy from the smallest things. It looks at every difficulty with tolerance and composure.

I think everything in life has a reason. Life will present us with countless difficulties and challenges for us to overcome, for us to realize the value of happiness.

Through the storm, we will also realize our own value.

It is the storms that will help you perfect yourself, help you become a better version of yourself.