HBO and A24 are producing a new drama series titled The Sympathizer with Robert Downey Jr. staring in and producing and Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Joint Security Area, Thirst, The Handmaiden, The Vengeance, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Lady Vengeance) directing and serving as showrunner. The project has just added several new members to the cast, which included Sandra Oh.
Other cast members include Kieu Chinh (Dynasty) and Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen (Paris By Night) who are set for key recurring roles. They are joined by Hoa Xuande (Cowboy Bebop), Fred Nguyen Khan (Transplant), Toan Le, Vy Le and Alan Trong (The Tomorrow War), all of Vietnamese descent.
The Sympathizer is an adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. It’s “an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his resulting exile in the United States.”
Described as a “blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping spy novel and a powerful story of love and friendship,” the novel is hailed as a new classic of war fiction and has been compared to the works of Kafka, Orwell, and le Carré.
Oh will play Ms. Sofia Mori, “a liberated feminist who in the midst of a love triangle begins to awaken to the complexity of her own Asian American identity.”
Chinh portrays the Major’s Mother. “Homesick for Vietnam, she doesn’t find an easy fit with her new circumstances, in contrast to her son who has jumped in feet first.”
Nguyen is Madame, “the General’s wife and elegant and commanding matriarch who’s desperate to keep her daughter modest and her husband from unraveling as they restart their lives as refugees.”
Xuande portrays The Captain, “a spy for North Vietnam embedded in the refugee community in Los Angeles. A man of two minds and dual identities, the Captain is caught between conflicting loyalties, contradicting desires, and is ultimately forced to confront what it means to sympathize.”
Nguyen Khan is Bon, “the Captain’s childhood friend who refuses to bring the Captain’s multiple identities into focus. A proud member of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Bon arrives in Los Angeles after a tragic loss and ultimately finds new meaning in the most unlikely of places and circumstances.”
Toan Le plays The General, “the larger-than-life former leader of the South Vietnamese Secret Police. Overtaken by paranoia, the General is fixated on sniffing out traitors amongst the refugee community in Los Angeles and is in feverish pursuit of his goal to lead a counter-revolutionary mission back in his homeland.”
Vy Le portrays Lana, “the rebellious daughter of the General. Fluent in both American and Vietnamese culture, she has an uncanny skill of absorbing and adapting to American popular culture, a capacity that is dizzying for the Captain and unnerving for her father.”
Trong is Sonny, “the idealistic former classmate of the Captain and now the editor of a Los Angeles Vietnamese-language newspaper. Sonny is free to pursue his desires and ideals with open passion which provides the perfect foil for the Captain.”
Downey Jr. is set to “play multiple supporting roles as the main antagonists, all of whom represent a different arm of the American establishment.”
This sounds like it’ll be an interesting project.
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