Dai Bao Bao, born in 1990, is a well known cascadeur with seven years’ experience. Together with his co-workers – Duong Minh Chien, Ho Minh Luan, Tien Hoang and Minh Hoang - Bao stands in for many famous actors, mostly in historical dramas.

His major job is action instructor, i.e., the person directing action scenes, mostly for the Action C channel. Sometimes, he also acts as a cascadeur if requested by his teacher Quoc Thinh.

Bao Bao’s team is pursuing action comedy films, such as ‘Tay Du Ky bia truyen’ (The Journey to the West – Made-up Story), ‘Song lan dai chien’ (The War Between Two Unicorns) and ‘Diep Vien Sieu Ngao’ (Foolish Spy).

His one working days lasts 12 hours, or longer. It takes just 2-3 hours to shoot difficult scenes, but the work is tiring and painful. He often has to travel far, to Cao Bang and Hanoi, and it takes nearly three days just to move from one place to another.

Like his colleagues, his family did not agree with his decision to become a stuntman because of the high risks of the profession. Stuntmen have to take dangerous actions which may threaten their lives or have long-term impact on their health. 

Only after 4-5 years of working and proving his capability did his family begin to support him.

Bao Bao wanted to become a comedian, but he changed his mind and became a cascadeur because of his difficult family conditions. However, after two years of working as a stuntman, he realized that he really loved the profession.

“Cascadeurs not only have to move, take action, but they also generate positive energy and inspire other people,” he said.

“I feel excited doing action scenes, so now I'm only passionate about being a stuntman, and no longer want to be an actor,” he said.

Bao once worked as a cameraman and operated flycams for two years, and he got a better income from the job. However, he always felt that ‘something was missing’, and decided to come back to work as a stuntman.

"The passion in me was revived when I became a stuntman again. When I took other jobs, I was not passionate and I wondered why I was trying to earn much money for. I realized that being a stuntman was my passion and I decided to pursue it to the end," Bao Bao said. 

He believes that if he works diligently and has higher professional skills, he will earn big money, no matter which job he chooses.

According to Bao Bao, there are three levels in stunt profession – cascadeur, action instructor and action director. To become an action director, he has to learn from action scenes on YouTube and in Hollywood films.

Stuntmen start a career by standing in for actors. During the process, if he can accumulate experience and has good knowledge about filming, he can become an instructor in action scenes, i.e. guide actors and co-workers to do action scenes. Meanwhile, the action director has to care about acting and have a comprehensive view about all action scenes in films.

Bao Bao said he and his co-workers decided to set up a private channel but not to make money or fame. Their major purpose was creating a playing field for cascadeurs where they can learn more about the profession. They hoped that via YouTube, they will have opportunities to become actors in the future.

He revealed that their team - Action C – is cooperating with Vo Thanh Hoa, a famous film producer, to make the movie Long Dien Huong. The filming will start in December. This is the result of many years’ efforts of all the members of the team, and a great opportunity for them to show their skills.

In the project, Duong Minh Chien, head of Action C team, will be the director, while Tram Minh Hoang will take the major role and Bao Bao a subordinate role, mostly action scenes.

Bao Bao said that cascadeur is a dangerous career. His most serious accident occurred three years ago, when he was doing a car crash scene at the speed of 40km/h. Due to lack of experience, he froze during that scene, and got a shoulder injury that took two months to recover. He still feels pain in bad weather.

Thanh Phi - Kim Thanh