Thuy Diem – the queen of South Vietnam TV series ratings, returned to cinema after 10 years, taking on the role of the legendary stepmother in the movie Con Cam. Right after the first poster of the movie Con Cam – a horror version of the fairy tale Tam Cam was released, many viewers were curious to predict which actor would take on the characters of the trio Tam, Cam and Stepmother. Recently, director Tran Huu Tan and producer Hoang Quan officially announced actress Thuy Diem – “the queen of South Vietnam TV series ratings will play the legendary evil stepmother in Con Cam.

Con Cam Firstlook Poster

Actress Thuy Diem acted in a horror movie for the first time

Before taking on the role of a beautiful and cruel stepmother in Con Cam, Thuy Diem had an impressive acting career in Vietnam TV series. Starting her career in 2009, the actress quickly make a great impression on the audience through a series of roles in popular TV Series such as Song Tinh, Mua Thu Di Mot Nua, Trai Tim Hoa Hong. Each of her roles left a distinct mark, from gentle characters to strong, decisive characters. Her acting career is not only highly appreciated for her ability to play a role but also for her hard work and dedication to the profession. In 2013, Thuy Diem was honored as Promising Artist at the HTV Television Awards, an important turning point in her career. In 2020 – 2021, Thuy Diem successively entered the nomination list of major award ceremonies such as Star Of The Year, VTV Impression, and Face Of The Year.

The sharp and Arrogant beauty of actress Thuy Diem

Marking 15 years in acting, Thuy Diem has had a dazzling first half of 2024 with two TV series that alternately led the national viewership ratings: Tram Cuu Ho Trai Tim (broadcast during prime time on VTV3) and Tinh Yeu Bat Tu (broadcast during prime time on THVL1). This made Luong The Thanh’s wife became one of the rare actresses to “dominate” the airwaves on both major television stations in North and South Vietnam at the same time, topping the ratings on both. Consequently, Thuy Diem has been affectionately dubbed the new “Queen of Ratings” by the audience and the media. In “Tram Cuu Ho Trai Tim,” her character My Dinh is a spirited young lady who brings complex emotions to the viewers. Although not a villain, Thuy Diem sparked much controversy due to her character’s personality in this first northern venture. Meanwhile, the third wheel Linh in “Tinh Yeu Bat Tu” is indeed a villain makes viewers angry because of Linh’s tricks in the chaos of love and life. Starting with two roles involving villainous elements and frustrating the audience on the small screen, Thuy Diem returned to cinema after more than 10 years with “Con Cam” alongside the evil stepmother – the most haunting and hated character in the familiar childhood folktale of Tam Cam. Con Cam is the first film Thuy Diem has participated in over the past 10 years – the role of the Stepmother is not only a significant acting challenge but also an opportunity for Thuy Diem to assert her position in the hearts of the audience and her ambition to become the “Villainess of Vietnam movies”.

The Stepmother – Thuy Diem’s most wicked villain role

Thuy Diem’s mysterious aura and legitimate stepmother authority.

In the memory of many generations viewers, the image of the stepmother in the fairy tale Tam Cam is always associated with severity and cunning malice. She is the main antagonist, often depicted with jealousy and envy towards Tam, her husband’s daughter. For director Tran Huu Tan, Thuy Diem was the perfect choice for the Stepmother role: “From the first meeting with Thuy Diem, I was certain that she was the Stepmother that the Con Cam crew had been searching for. Besides her beautiful appearance, she has a sharpness suited to the role of a scheming, malicious stepmother. I was extremely impressed with Thuy Diem’s articulation, her voice has a sharp but gentle tone, fitting the harshness of a scheming woman, yet also displaying the power of a stepmother. I believe that Thuy Diem’s transformation in Con Cam will certainly surprise the audience”. Discussing her first film role after 10 years in Con Cam, “the ratings queen” revealed: “The Stepmother is a true villainess, an extremely cruel and sharp woman in both words and actions. Diem thinks performing cruel acts towards adults is more tolerable than any cruelty towards a child. For the Stepmother role, Diem had to portray many scenes that needed to express intense hatred and loathing, unleashing the most terrible things on a child. It’s something quite terrible, haunting Diem to this day after the filming has concluded. Unlike other versions of Tam Cam, Diem’s Stepmother character is narrated from when she was just 18 years old up to the birth of Con Cam and the growth journey of Tam and Cam. Viewers will understand more about her background and life views, accumulating reasons for having such a malicious, cruel stepmother as known from the story. Moreover, Diem faced significant challenges in expressing the very complex inner world of this character, to properly portray a personality that interweaves between good and evil sides of the Stepmother. This has been the most villainous role Thuy Diem has ever taken on”.

The Stepmother is the most villainous role Thuy Diem has ever played

To pay the for the sins the Stepmother had caused, Thuy Diem suffered from a bleeding mouth after having to repeatedly shoot a scene too many times: “In the fairy tale Tam Cam, the scene where the stepmother mixes husk with rice and makes Tam pick them out is undoubtedly a classic remembered by many Vietnamese. In Con Cam, Diem had to eat all the husk and rice the Stepmother laid out. The scene was shot over and over from many different angles, meaning Diem had to eat it repeatedly. Eating too much husk caused Diem’s mouth to tear and bleed. Diem hopes that when the scene is shown in the movie, it will create a good effect on the audience.” Besides the cruelty, the Stepmother Thuy Diem promises to make a good impression on the audience with her beautiful and elegant appearance in historical costumes: “Diem is extremely satisfied with the ancient costumes Diem got to wear, the Con Cam crew invested seriously and meticulously in each outfit, reconstructing almost 100% of the historical costumes that Diem saw in historical documents. Wearing those clothes, Diem really liked it and felt like she immediately became the famous beautiful and wicked stepmother in Tam Cam”.

Thuy Diem and the rice husk – the legendary weapon of the wicked stepmother

One of the biggest challenges Thuy Diem faced while filming Con Cam was spending many days away from her beloved son and husband: “Each time I had to leave home for shooting, Diem felt sad and missed her son and husband a lot. Fortunately, technology allowed Diem to see her son and husband every day despite being thousands of kilometers apart. There were days when my husband and our son raveled a long distance to visit Diem on the set, which are incredibly memorable moments for Diem during the filming of Con Cam”, Thuy Diem said. A happy family, a flourishing career, and increasingly enhanced beauty are the achievement of more than 15 years of serious pursuit in acting for the Thuy Diem. The role of the Stepmother in Con Cam movie promises to be another memorable milestone in her long acting career. Movie Con Cam is produced by ProductionQ, along with the crews of Hellbound Village  and The Soul Reaper. The movie is a bloody horror version inspired by the famous fairy tale Tam Cam, scheduled to premiere in September 2024.