Summary
HBO’s new limited series ‘The Sympathizer’ is adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning book written by Viet Thanh Nguyen, chronicling Hoa Xuande’s spy days during the 1975 Vietnam War. The cast includes Robert Downey Jr. playing 4 antagonist characters being directed by Don McKellar and Park Chan-wook.
Robert Downey Jr. and protagonist Hoa Xuande in ‘The Sympathizer’
Photo: Hopper Stone/HBO
The task of ‘The Sympathizer’, HBO’s new limited series with Robert Downey Jr., wasn’t easy. After all, the proposal was to adapt the Pulitzer Prize-winning book written by Viet Thanh Nguyen, which tells a story of espionage and counterculture focused on a spy for communist forces during the Vietnam War in 1975.
In the plot, Hoa Xuande plays the spy in question. Half-French and half-Vietnamese, the Captain seeks refuge in Los Angeles, where he ends up learning that his spying days are not behind him. The cast also includes Sandra Oh, Fred Nguyen Khan, Duy Nguyen and the eternal Tony Stark — who plays four different characters.
To translate a story with so many elements, HBO recruited a stellar team to operate behind the cameras. Don McKellar signs as showrunner and executive producer alongside the award-winning Park Chan-wookfrom ‘The Maid’ and ‘Decision to Leave’.
For the Canadian director, actor and playwright, one of his biggest concerns was maintaining the tone that Viet gave to the book in the series. “When I spoke to Viet, he was very concerned about the voice, it needs to be present. And the voice is very smart and sarcastic. We tried to preserve it, not just in the off-screen, but in the style of the series”, he said, in an interview provided exclusively to Terra.
McKellar explains that one of the biggest challenges was finding a “middle ground” in the cultural sense, considering that the series’ target audience, mostly Western, is not exactly familiar with the nuances of a story generated in Vietnam.
“We didn’t want to explain too much. We didn’t want to illustrate Asian culture, or dictate what it’s like to be Vietnamese. We wanted to live and show things from the inside out. That’s one of the strengths of the book, and that’s why it’s important that we can speak with authority. The cast, for the most part, is Asian, precisely Vietnamese. That was important.”
Cast member Duy Nguyen agrees with the importance of diverse voices. For him, it was easy to adapt to the tone and language of the series, since his own parents left Vietnam in the 1970s. “The series is very sensitive and political, and the people of Vietnam are very sensitive about this topic “, he confides.
HBO’s bet for the next awards season, The Sympathizer is a dense series rich in details, with multiple narrative lines that need to captivate the audience in a homogeneous way. In this sense, McKellar explains that working with Park Chan-wook was a turning point. “I knew his taste was impeccable and I trusted him,” he declared.
“The tone of the series was so difficult that I really believed it was perfect for it. Viet also believed that from the beginning, because [Park] it has that kind of humor and wit to its direction, but also the ability to be unsettling and scary. We needed that boldness and that intelligence.”
Robert Downey Jr. plays four characters in ‘The Sympathizer’
Photo: Hopper Stone/HBO
Even with so much to be discussed, one question that remains unanswered in relation to The Sympathizer is related to Robert Downey Jr. Although he is not the Oscar winner for best supporting actor, he plays four characters in the series, figures who ended up crossing the Captain’s path and serving as allies or antagonists of the main character.
“When we met in Los Angeles, Park and I came up with the idea of a single white guy playing all the antagonist characters, which I immediately loved,” Don contextualizes.
“We were a little afraid, but Viet loved the idea, because it clarifies a lot of things. It’s a kind of joke that all white guys are the same. But at the same time, it has a deeper thematic logic, which is integrated into the script , but I don’t want to explain”, he provokes.
‘The Sympathizer’ airs every Sunday on HBO and Max. The first two episodes are now available.
8 great Brazilian thrillers to watch on streaming
Source: Redação Entre Telas
