Katleen, 29, is the daughter of Nam Anh, head of the traditional wing chun school, and Thanh Xuan, who won the 1992 Cinema Beauty Queen title. Wing chun is a traditional Chinese martial art focusing on close-range combat and efficient, direct techniques.

In 2017, Katleen had moved back to Vietnam from Canada to work as an interpreter for Master Flores, a wing chun practitioner who had come to Vietnam for a series of challenge matches and inter-school exchanges. While doing this, she discovered she had a passion for acting and decided to pursue it, though she had originally studied law. Her parents supported her choice to enter the film and entertainment industry.

She became widely known after appearing in “Face Off 4: The Walking Guest” (2019), directed by Ly Hai, which earned VND120 billion (U.S$ 4.7 million) at the box office.

She got her first leading role in the action film “Battle Of The Fists,” released in 2021, and also appeared in other projects such as “Naughty Kitchen God” (2019) and “The Thousand Years Predestination” (2021).

*All videos and photos are courtesy of the subject