INTERVIEW / When life takes a 'left-handed' turn: Vietnamese realizes acting dream in Taiwan

Taipei, Dec. 22 (CNA) Vietnamese actress Trần Thu Liễu, also known by her Chinese name Chen Chiu-liu (陳秋柳), has realized her acting dream in Taiwan, a place she has called home for more than two decades.

Trần played A-Li (阿莉), a character working at a noodle stand in a Taipei night market in the Taiwanese movie "Left-Handed Girl" (左撇子女孩), which was shortlisted last week for an Oscar for best international feature film.

"Taiwan's culture is truly diverse, and it allows me to pursue my dreams," she told CNA in a recent phone interview.

Trần said she was very happy to have been a part of the film. "I was only a supporting actress, but the director and producers invited me onto the red carpet with them."

She was referring to her attendance at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards in Taipei on Nov. 22, which celebrated achievements in filmmaking in the Chinese-speaking world.

"Left-Handed Girl," directed by Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and co-written by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, was nominated for eight Golden Horse awards. The film ultimately won one honor: Best New Performer for Ma Shih-yuan (馬士媛).

A chance at a dream

Trần, who is married to a Taiwanese citizen, came to Taiwan from Ho Chi Minh City in the early 2000s at the age of 21.

Before that, she worked in a shoe factory in Vietnam, and during the early years in Taiwan, she worked toiling jobs like giving manicure services at a local park, she recalled.

With assistance from New Taipei's New Immigrant Family and Women Service Center, she began taking classes to learn Chinese and develop new skills, which helped her discover and cultivate various talents, including the performing arts.

Originally passionate about the arts, Trần gradually honed her craft through years of hard work and perseverance, allowing her talent to emerge. Today, in her 40s, she has appeared in movies, on television and on stage.

While pursuing her dreams on stage, Trần also works as an interpreter, providing judicial and administrative translation services for Vietnamese nationals in Taiwan.

In 2025 she was honored as one of New Taipei's 10 influential cross-over figures and received a contribution service medal from the National Immigration Agency.

Taiwan's diverse society makes anything possible

Asked about her reflections on "Left-Handed Girl," Trần shared that she felt the movie artfully explored themes of tradition and sexism, all while successfully introducing the beauty of Taiwan's night markets to an international audience.

"The entire movie conveyed to me the cultural uniqueness of Taiwan's night markets and challenged patriarchal traditions," Trần said.

"Through a grassroots immigrant character like mine, the movie also showcased that Taiwan has a diverse society populated by immigrants."

She said that in her more than 20 years in Taiwan, she noticed that the country went from one where Vietnamese immigrants were afraid to speak their mother tongue in public to one where different languages could be heard spoken everywhere.

Trần said she wishes to use the unique opportunities her acting career has given her to bridge Taiwanese and Vietnamese cultures.

"Using culture to communicate could cultivate more compassion and curb prejudice," she said.

Over the many years in Taiwan, she found that "if I hadn't come to Taiwan and had stayed in Vietnam, my dream might never have had the chance to come true," she said.