May 30 8:03 PM ET
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A popular Vietnamese actor criticized for playing a Communist commander in the Mel Gibson movie "We Were Soldiers" says he'll take no more roles in foreign-made films about the Vietnam War.
Vietnam's state-controlled newspapers have described the movie as biased and have accused actor Don Duong of accepting a role that presents Communist soldiers in a poor light.
Duong said he didn't regret performing in the movie and had learned from the experience.
"I was very proud to play a character in a movie with Mel Gibson. It was up to the director, not me, to determine the nature of the movie," he said in a telephone interview.
"But I'm really sad about the criticism, and I swear never to play any role in other foreign-made movies about the Vietnam War."
The movie depicts a bloody three-day battle in Ia Drang valley between the North Vietnamese army and U.S. troops in November 1965.
It is based on the book "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young" by retired Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore.
Duong said director Randall Wallace and Moore had described the character he played, Commander Nguyen Huu An, as a brave and direct man who led Vietnamese soldiers to victory.
...in .."WE WERE SOLDIERS"..!
...Too Bad the Vietnamese People are no longer Free to enjoy his performance like most of us in the rest of the world are...???
...I will NEVER FORGET his magnificient pounding drums theme in Composer ..NICK GLENNIE-SMITH's.. Sountrack Musical Score a la ..CLANN an DRUMMA.. style.
...What a Rush.