Some Vietnamese origin actors/actresses are very well-known in the US and France.

Pham Linh Dan

She is known most for her role as an orphan of the Nguyen Dynasty adopted by a French plantation owner in the 1992 Oscar-winning French epic Indochine, starring alongside Catherine Deneuve. Pham received a Cesar nomination for most promising actress for that performance.

In 2005, Pham made a return to acting with her role in the BAFTA and Cesar winning French film The Beat That My Heart Skipped, opposite Romain Duris for which she was nominated again for the most promising actress Cesar award (and won).

Her lines are spoken in Vietnamese, and though many people believe she plays a Chinese character because she is introduced by a Chinese musician friend who knows her from Beijing, in fact she plays a Vietnamese who studied music at the conservatoire in Beijing.

In the film her friend claims that she can speak Chinese, Vietnamese, and a little English. In reality Pham speaks French, English and Vietnamese fluently.

She starred in her first Vietnamese production when she appeared as Cam in the 2009 film Adrift ("Chơi vơi") by the director Bui Thac Chuyen, which won the FIPRESCI award at the 66th Venice International Film Festival.

The film deals with social and personal issues in modern day Vietnam, which are not often portrayed in Vietnamese cinema, such as homosexuality, and loneliness. In the film Pham speaks in Vietnamese with a fluent Northern accent.

Tran Nu Yen Khe

Trần Nữ Yên Khê (born 1968) is a Vietnamese-born French actress married to the director Tran Anh Hung. She has been in all his films thus far, with the exception of Norwegian Wood.

She acted in The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), Cyclo (1995), The Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000) and I Come with the Rain (2009).

Maggie Q

Margaret Denise Quigley (born 1979), professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American actress and model.

She achieved international fame starring as the title role on The CW’s action-thriller series Nikita that aired from 2010 to 2013.

In 2014, she portrayed Tori Wu in the film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s novel Divergent and its sequels, and stars in the Kevin Williamson CBS drama series Stalker as Lieutenant Beth Davis.

Christy Chung

Christy Chung (or Chung Lệ Đề) (born 1970) is a Canadian actress and restaurateur. She was born in Montreal to a Chinese-Vietnamese father and a Vietnamese mother.

Chung grew up in Brossard, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, with French and Vietnamese as mother-tongues. She later learned English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

A role in The Bride with White Hair 2 brought her instant recognition, and she became a well-known star in Chinese-language popular culture, acting in a large number of films including some films starring Stephen Chow, as well as The Bodyguard from Beijing starring Jet Li.

More recently, she had roles in Samsara and Jackie Chan's movie The Medallion. She added Thai to her language repertoire when she starred in Nonzee Nimibutr's 2001 film Jan Dara. Singapore FHM magazine voted her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2000.

Dustin Nguyen

Dustin Nguyen (born 1962) is a Vietnamese-American actor, director, writer and martial artist. He is best known for his roles as Harry Truman Ioki on 21 Jump Street and as Johnny Loh on V.I.P. In Films, he's known for starring in Little Fish, The Doom Generation and The Rebel.

 In March 2009, he won the Vietnamese Cánh Diều Vàng (Golden Kite Award) for best actor, for his starring role in the Phuoc Sang Films vehicle Huyền Thoại Bất Tử (The Legend Is Alive).

James Edward Duval

James Edward Duval (born 1972) is an American actor, who is known for his roles in the Gregg Araki trilogy— Totally Fucked Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere—in addition to Frank in Donnie Darko, Blank in May, Miguel in Independence Day and Singh in Go.

Duval has starred in numerous independent films, including the 2009 psychological thriller The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond and the mystery crime-thriller film Noirland directed by Ramzi Abed.

He plays guitar and piano, and sings in a band named Gene Wilder (after the actor) with friends and fellow actors Brian McGuire and Brett Roberts.

He formerly played for Antoneus Maximus & The Nuthouze Band who had been playing gigs at local venues in Los Angeles. Their first album in 2004 included guest appearances by such luminaries as apl.de.ap of The Black Eyed Peas, DJMotiv8, Dante Santiago, and Kid (Christopher Reid) of Kid ‘n’ Play.

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