My mother had introduced me to a lot of my father's friends because she believed that I would get to know the guy my dad was better through his friends than just in the hospital visits.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I didn't know my father very well; I only met him a few times.
I met my grandfather just before he died, and it was the first time that I had seen Dad with a relative of his. It was interesting to see my own father as a son and the body language and alteration in attitude that comes with that, and it sort of changed our relationship for the better.
Some people found it difficult to understand my relationship with my father, but that may have been because they couldn't get beyond their relationship with their own parents.
My experience of my father's death was that it was still taboo; nobody would meet me after my father died because they didn't know what to say.
My parents came from different backgrounds. My father's was grander than my mother's, so my mother had... to put up with the disapproval of my father's relations.
My mom and my dad were both very sociable, meeting lots of interesting people.
For 20 years, my mother, my sister and I had seldom spoken of my father. If he happened to come up in conversation, pain and embarrassment entered the room and stayed until he disappeared back into the silence with which we all felt more at ease.
My dad and I had been close - he called me Tuyet Bang, Vietnamese for 'avalanche,' because of my nonstop energy. I took a lot from him, like being a risk taker, and I know how much he loved my mother.
I had a very distant relationship with my father. It was always just me and my mother. It was a shattering blow when she died. I was 16.
My parents went crazy when they found out that I had gotten the part in 'Conversations With My Father!' I'd never given acting a thought. They were proud of me and very encouraging.