Who doesn’t love a good period piece/spy thriller? Often times these stories are presented with British or American agents trying to uncover secret plots of government subterfuge. Thanks to more diversity in storytelling and production though, doors are opening up for other perspectives on this genre. Such is the case for HBO’s upcoming limited series, “The Sympathizer.” This tale of a North Vietnamese mole not only seems like a breath of creative energy for storytelling but also for acting, as it’s also going to afford Robert Downey Jr. the chance to play four different parts in the show.
Also set to executive produce the series with his wife and co-producer, Susan Downey, RDJr gets to play a variety of different characters alongside Hoa Xuande, who you may remember as Lin from the short-lived “Cowboy Bebop” live-action series. Xuande plays “The Captain,” the aforementioned North Vietnamese mole who is exiled to America during the waning days of the Vietnam War. The story is based on the novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen, who penned the Pulitzer Prize winning book in 2015. He followed it up six years later with a sequel entitled, “The Committed.” The show, like the novel, seems to incorporate dark humor alongside dramatic narrative twists and the treachery of agents, double-agents, and the perils of life itself.
A majority of the players involved with the show behind and in front of the camera are of various Asian heritage, including Xuande himself who is of Vietnamese descent, and Sandra Oh, who hails from Canada with South Korean heritage. Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy“) is acting as co-producer, showrunner, and director. Suffice to say, there’s plenty of talent to go around even without Robert Downey Jr. looking to make up for the pain that was “Dolittle.”
A teaser trailer for “The Sympathizer” was released on April 12th to coincide with the announcement HBO Max will be rebranded as MAX next month. As for “The Sympathizer,” we won’t be seeing that on the service until sometime in 2024.
In the meantime, if you want to read the book the upcoming show is based on, you can always pick it up and see how it will compare to the series. And if you’re craving more non-Doolittle RDJr, you can see him in Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming film “Oppenheimer“ this summer.
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