Hiep Thi Le was born in 1971 one of seven children in Da Nang, Vietnam. At the tender age of eight, she and her younger sister stowed away on a fishing boat, believing their mother was aboard. It was a perilous journey which landed the sisters in the first of several refugee camps. Hiep's family was eventually reunited years later in Northern California. Once in the US, Hiep taught herself to read and write English. She was educated at Oakland high school and studied pre-med at the University of California, Davis. It was during college that on a whim she agreed to accompany her sister and friends to an open casting call for the Oliver Stone film Heaven and Earth. Hiep was surprised to receive a call back the following week. After an arduous five-month audition including thousands of applicants for the lead role, the part was hers.

Following Heaven and Earth, Hiep continued to act in several films and television shows. In 2002 she began a second career in the restaurant business, first as chef at China Beach Bistro in Venice Beach and later as both chef and owner of Le Cellier in Marina Del Rey. Hiep courageously battled stomach cancer and died at the age of 46 in early 2018. She is survived by her husband, their two children and her parents.

Above all, Hiep was the proud mother of two.