Thuy Thu Le
Encyclopedia
Thuy Thu Le is an American actress.
. She was raised and educated in the United States
, after her parents left Saigon during the Vietnam War
. Thuy was only an infant
at the time. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley
, and is bilingual
. She speaks fluent Vietnamese
and English
.
Thuy Thu Le is best known for her role(s) in the 1989 Brian De Palma
film Casualties of War
, starring Michael J. Fox
and Sean Penn
. She played a South Vietnamese peasant
girl
named Tran Thi Oanh, who lived in a remote village
in South Vietnam. She was kidnapped
, rape
d and murder
ed by a group of soldier
s. Le played a dual role in the same film as an Asian student that Fox's character, Eriksson meets aboard a train in San Francisco, California. This end scene takes place some years after the events with Oanh in the Vietnam War.
Though she delivered a critically acclaimed performance in Casualties of War, Thuy Thu Le retired from acting. , she works as a schoolteacher in California. She is married and has three children.
Biography
Thuy Thu Le was born in Saigon, South VietnamHo Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
. She was raised and educated in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, after her parents left Saigon during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Thuy was only an infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
at the time. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and is bilingual
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...
. She speaks fluent Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Thuy Thu Le is best known for her role(s) in the 1989 Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
film Casualties of War
Casualties of War
Casualties of War is a 1989 war drama directed by Brian De Palma, with a screenplay by David Rabe, based on the actual events of the incident on Hill 192 in 1966 during the Vietnam War. It starred Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn....
, starring Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
and Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
. She played a South Vietnamese peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
girl
Girl
A girl is any female human from birth through childhood and adolescence to attainment of adulthood. The term may also be used to mean a young woman.-Etymology:...
named Tran Thi Oanh, who lived in a remote village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in South Vietnam. She was kidnapped
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed by a group of soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
s. Le played a dual role in the same film as an Asian student that Fox's character, Eriksson meets aboard a train in San Francisco, California. This end scene takes place some years after the events with Oanh in the Vietnam War.
Though she delivered a critically acclaimed performance in Casualties of War, Thuy Thu Le retired from acting. , she works as a schoolteacher in California. She is married and has three children.