The Sympathizer
Summary
Sandra Oh go forward her sovereignty on tv withThe Sympathizer . Having first pause out with the HBO comedyArliss , Oh has garner widespread acclaim on both the enceinte and small screens throughout her career with the the like ofGrey ’s Anatomy , for which she landed five Primetime Emmy nominating speech and won her first Golden Globe , SidewaysandTurning Red . More recently , she ’s been seen and heard inAMC’sKilling Eve , which earned her 2d Golden Globe win and landed six additional Emmy nominations , and Prime Video’sInvincible .
base on Viet Thanh Nguyen ’s Pulitzer Prize - winning novel of the same name , The Sympathizercenters on the story of the Captain , a North Vietnamese spy working hole-and-corner in the South Vietnamese army who get away to America as the Vietnam War ends , but continues his delegation covertly from the country . Hoa Xuande leads the star - dot mould of the HBO thriller as the Captain , brilliantly capturing his wavering commitment and national conflicts . Oh whiz in the show as Ms. Mori , a woman work for the Captain ’s Occidental grad schooling professor with whom he fall in passion , who furthers his battle over determining to choose between his mission and himself .
The HBO miniseries The Sympathizer is establish on Viet Thanh Nguyen ’s book of the same name and chronicles the fall of Saigon during the Vietnam War .
Alongside Xuande and Oh , the ensembleSympathizercastincludes Robert Downey Jr. in a four - character role , Toan Le , Fred Nguyen Khan , Duy Nguyễn , Vy Le , Ky Duyen , Phanxinê , Kieu Chinh , VyVy Nguyen and Alan Trong . Hailing from Don McKellar and acclaimed South Korean director Park Chan - wook , who also channelize the first three episodes of the show , the HBO and A24 thriller is also executive make by Susan Downey and Downey Jr. via their Team Downey streamer .
Ahead of the show ’s premiere , Screen Rantparticipated in a roundtable consultation with Hoa Xuande and Sandra Oh to discussThe Sympathizer , their views on whether the show is a " pattern " for future Vietnamese representation on screen , and the dichotomy and blooming themes of their characters .
Oh ThinksThe SympathizerIs “A Vital Step” For Vietnamese Representation
Unlike many depictions of the Vietnam War era , The Sympathizeraims to focus on the Vietnamese experience , including have mostly Vietnamese dialogue for its characters and casting them with authentic actors . When ask whether the two finger that the show could be go through as a " blueprint " for future theatrical on silver screen , Xuande like the speech sound of the idea , though Oh cautioned that felt " too big of a duty " to put on the HBO thriller , instead invite it to be a " vital step " :
Hoa Xuande : Oh , a blueprint ? I like that .
Sandra Oh : I do n’t think The Sympathizer is so much of a blueprint , that ’s too big of a responsibleness to put on it . But I do think that — what I go for is that — it is a vital step . It ’s just a beautiful art object in the teaser of storytelling . I do think , though , it is a new piece , and it ’s a fresh piece that has been missing for a prospicient prison term . Maybe like 50 year , it ’s been missing .
Custom Image by Yailin Chacon
But now it is out , it is being brought to ignitor , and being brought to light with some masterly artists who are wanting to take on the chronicle . Myself being one of the members who were like , " I want to be a part to support this dramatis personae , to support this production . And to get the cast members what they hopefully will need to support them to separate the story . " And your pointedness about the linguistic process , I will say , for me , when I eventually was capable to play a fiber who really had a Korean name , that signify a lot for me , and that happened not that long ago . So , my vision is to be able to hear your own language that has not needfully been hear in —
Hoa Xuande : Yeah , limn on screen door .
Sandra Oh : Even your name , Hoa . For the great unwashed to look at that name and go , " I need to learn how to say that " — it ’s pretty comfortable to say . But that ’s the get-go of it , just to be able to go , " Oh , this is not so intimate to me . It ’s my province to learn it . " I think that is a step forward .
Based on the novel by Viet Thanh Nuyen, The Sympathizer explores the last days of the Vietnam War through the eyes of a half-Vietnamese, half-French spy serving for the communist regime. The TV series adaptation is set-up as a mini-series and will likely still be framed as a confession from the protagonist as they make their way through the war. Photo is of the original novel cover.
Hoa Xuande : I agree with all that . And I think , relating back to your first doubtfulness , was how you see the Asian tale being depicted in the medium . Specifically , about this book , the depiction of the Vietnam War is something that we ’ve seen in mainstream media for the last five decade . And a lot of the time , that reading of that part of account has been through a very westerly - centrical genus Lens . We ’re all too familiar with how these things are usually perpetuated on Asiatic people , and we ca n’t be economise , or we ’re commonly people waiting to be saved , or we ’re helpless .
Sandra Oh : That ’s represent , candidly , through all of Robert Downey Jr ’s characters , that view .
Hoa Xuande : And finally , we have a story that ’s been distinguish in a mode that it puts the Vietnamese people at the center of the floor , that are in mastery of their own actions and their own destinies , right or wrong . They ’re capable to find things , they go through emotion , and they ’re combat with dilemmas of their loyalty and their allegiance and their emotions and their friendships and their loves , which is not usually depicted in that way when we talk about the Vietnam War or Vietnamese people .
Xuande & Oh Found Many Parallels Between Their Characters & Themselves
In addition to the unique wave-particle duality of a undercover agent trying to hide out his true intentions from those around him , Xuande was presented with the complex layer inThe Sympathizer ’s Captain of his being biracial and having manage with ridicule for such throughout his life-time . The star open up about how he not only resonated with this theme deeply from his own life but also helped him find " the burden " of who his character was :
Hoa Xuande : On a personal level , growing up in Australia , as a Vietnamese person , I guess I inherently struggled with my idea of what being Vietnamese was , and then what my thought of being Australian was . It really is a Western bon ton or Western culture . That dichotomy is really at the kernel of who the Captain is , because it not only feeds into his biracial indistinguishability , it eat into his ideologies , and his psychological science of what he believes in , and how he ’s brought up , what his intention is , who he should fight for , who he should trust ? So , I found that actually quite conversant , to be capable to play that through the character reference of the Captain , walking the thin assembly line of pleasing , but also standing up for [ thing ] , when to sit down , but also when to mouth up .
I guess throughout the series , we witness a very complex fictional character navigate how he deals with friendly relationship and loyalties and dedication , and what is at the core of his battle ? Is it for the survival of himself or his people ? Or not rocking the boat in the American institution ? What is he fighting for ? I think that ’s something that we all have to face . particularly , people of color have to face a lot of the time when we ’re trying to not rock the boat , but we ’re trying to put up up for ourselves as well .
In contrast to Xuande , Oh looked at Ms. Mori ’s journey as less of a " wave-particle duality " balance and more as a modern woman who " blossom undecided " due to her family relationship with the Captain . She also thought of Mori ’s viewpoint as " dated " , feeling that it staunch from the treatment of Asian citizenry in America at the time :
Sandra Oh : For me , with Ms. Mori ’s character , I do n’t inevitably see her as dual . What I see her journey is that she actually almost blooms open . You see that she ’s like a modernistic peeress , a modern woman , and she ’s not go away to be bossed around . But she starts questioning her Asiatic - American identity operator through her human relationship , especially with Sonny , and with the Captain , in that kind of love trilateral . I think she ’s really barrack by one of their arguments to examine her own lip service , to analyse how she has been assimilated , and why she has assimilated the way that she has .
Because it is a period piece , I sense her stance dated , that it ’s like , " What ’s my identity ? I ’m an American , I realize that . Why is that ? What ’s that coming from ? " That ’s come from the survivalism of absorption . You need to survive , so what do you need to do ? You want to fit in as fast as potential , but what you do then is that you ignore and you slew off a lot of who you are . So , when Ms. Mori fulfill the Captain , and then match Sonny . She go bad deeper and deeper and starts questioning her background , and there ’s this mystery behind it . So , I would n’t say necessarily , again , that it ’s a dual thing for Miss Mori , it ’s more of a check open .
The SympathizerEpisode 4 Proved “So Satisfying” But Also “Very Painful” For Oh
One of the moreunique elements ofThe Sympathizeris episode 4 , in which the Captain is task with being a part of the production for a fancied Hollywood flick entitledThe Hamletto be their Vietnamese consultant and in secret integrate communistic message into the dialog . satirize the way American - base Vietnam War flick output were made , including Downey Jr. ’s auteur manager Niko being inspire byApocalypse Now ’s Francis Ford Coppola , the account is a hilarious and nipping bottleful sequence for the show .
Oh , in particular , found the installment to be " so satisfying " in how it is a " high satire " attack to exploring Hollywood ’s approach shot to telling stories within the Vietnam War era , though recognize it to be " very painful " for the realistic nature of it . Xuande similarly found the episode to be very rewarding for recognizing the " microaggressions " many Asian performers go through in productions , while also praising how it fix the account specifically through the Captain ’s view as he tries to " battle that arrangement " :
Sandra Oh : I think episode 104 is so satisfying . It is hilarious , it is high irony , but it ’s very painful . But , why it ’s satisfying is it ’s all from the Captain ’s perspective . So , here are things that have been go on a tenacious time . The auteur is just throwing anti-Semite point of view , forget and correct , as it is normal for him at that metre . So , you see the Captain kind of rolling his heart , or gritting his teeth , or not saying anything , but you ’re indoors of his story . So , what ’s satisfying is that it does n’t hurt me , what the auteur has to say . Because , I think Robert really went there , because we demand to see the racialism , we need to see the racism that ’s percolate that set .
you may see where that has all derive from . I just come up 104 deeply satisfying , because also , now with this linear perspective , you gain — and it ’s not like you ’re laugh at how anti-Semite it was . But you ’re going , " Oh , my God . " Maybe those of us of color . Or perchance , from your linear perspective , can be like , " Well , see ? That ’s how ridiculous it was . "
Hoa Xuande : Yeah , I imagine hoi polloi who empathize what those microaggressions are , and have had to manage with just chafe it off your shoulder , and pretending like it ’s all hunky-dory , then that ’s just part of the culture . I think a lot of masses who have had to deal out with that can bear on to just accepting that this is the means things are , and never having a dissimilar point of view . And then , when you in conclusion see someone through the Captain ’s eyes , who ’s in a position to be able to do something , how hard it is to even battle that system . And that ’s what makes it kind of funny , that these system just wo n’t move , even in the case of telling stories that are about a sure somebody , or sure people , but even they ’re not permit to have a voice on their own write up .
Sandra Oh : You see sure moments that are so ridiculous , like the woman who ’s verbalize Chinese , or then John Cho ’s fiber , where he goes through the list of how many ways he ’s died . " Yeah , I was killed by this bloodless actor , I was killed by this white actor , I was killed by this white actor . " [ Chuckles ] It ’s hilarious now , because — what we hope is — that does n’t live , because why ? It ’s not bechance in this write up that we ’re making right now .
The twosome also line up the episode ’s " super meta " glide path to tell this satiric account , with Oh noting Downey Jr. ’s role as the antagonistic auteur music director of the moving picture being a unique aspect . The Golden Globe success specifically compared his clip as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe , in which he was " act these archetypes of Western , white patriarchy",and his " sheer " decision to play such a virulent character inThe Sympathizer :
Hoa Xuande : The affair that ’s actually really rummy in the show is when the Captain is strain to get the Vietcong histrion to say a certain stemma about exemption and independency , and the actor , Tien , who diddle the Vietcong character , he ’s so indignant and tempestuous by the fact that he has to say these agate line , and he ’s just scream , " I have to say this , and I do n’t get ante up enough . " But it ’s just so funny to me that he ’s passionate , and he ’s incense about that situation , the film diligence frame him in that place , having to play something that he does n’t believe in .
But the auteur loves it and entirely dismisses anything about the language , or anything about what even that story or that moment is about , but just trying to charm what he believes the narrative is supposed to be . It ’s really telling of what the wide of the mark industry has been telling about these stories for a long time , that they ’re just capture these moments that they believe what the tarradiddle should be , as opposed to in reality listening in and lean into what these unlike perspectives are that have n’t been secernate for a long time .
Sandra Oh : It ’s enjoyable , and also , I think it ’s extremely sophisticated and passing meta . One of the meta thing is that Robert Downey Jr , who spend a decade of his life playing Iron Man , play these archetype of westerly , blank patriarchate . It ’s a very , very bold thing to do , and I think you could get into the comment of the meta of all that , but all the layer of it , and how , as the series persist in on , the signification of one worker dally all these graphic symbol then start to really make sense and have a much deep meaning . But yeah , so even when Tien is basically saying , " You ’re not paying me enough , " he is a part of the group you have been see for this whole series .
So then , when you see Bon and everyone , all the character that we bonk , that we spend clip with , are now the hoi polloi in the backdrop , you ’re also getting a composition of , " Hey , by the way , we know these people now . " So , they ’re not a faceless nobody , because we ’ve already spent time with them and Lana . It hits on a batch of notes , where it ’s like , " Oh , you ca n’t ignore that , you ca n’t ignore these background actor , because we ’ve spent four episodes with them . "
Hoa Xuande : These characters , like you say , are not nameless , not faceless , they ’re actually a part of the journeying as much as Captain .
Sandra Oh : And they ’ve carry the piss .
Working With Director Park Resulted In One Surreal Moment For Xuande & Oh
The SympathizermarksDirector Park ’s first major returnto television in a originative position after previously helming all six installment of the BBC version ofThe Little Drummer Girl , having also executive director get it and the TNT adaptation ofSnowpiercer . With the show , both Xuande and Oh call up feel some nerves over working with him but at long last obtain the experience to be a joy , particularly in snap one of their scenes together that felt somewhat surreal .
Hoa Xuande : Yeah , Director Park , stepping on hardening for the first meter with someone who is a superior of their craft , you have these inherent ideas of what you believe you need to do to match his level . And , for a while , I was really put through my pace . I was really nervous and insecure about even being capable to do what he desire me to do , let alone what I want to do . I think he ’s just very tranquil , he gather confidence in people when he speaks to them . He ’s get a lot going on that he does n’t really divulge , and he ’s quite mysterious in that way . But you sort of learned to finger and see what it is that he ’s trying to comprehend in his underframe as he ’s directing you .
It exact me a while to understand that , but once I felt like I got going with him , and once you learn how a managing director works , and the conductor works out how you work , you build this shorthand language about trying to make moment in a shot . I was capable to do one takes by the end of this , but yeah , he really urge confidence in you . He trust you , he chooses you , so he ’s just trying to put you in his frame of the world , and something that I kind of like to say is that he put the Lucy in the sky with diamonds on the board , and it ’s your caper to connect them , and once you understand that , it ’s in reality quite seamless and quite free to do .
Sandra Oh : You sleep with , there ’s this one aspect , our kind of intimate scene , romance conniption . It ’s actually one shoot from above , and when we were rehearse it , just the way that he was there on the seam looking at us . He ’s judge to estimate out what he wants , and then he takes the bluff move of just enunciate , " It ’s just one shot . " So what the director is signaling to the actor is that , I think in you . I just have one stroke . " [ Laughs ] He is giving you his confidence and his belief . He set up a beautiful gibe , and it ’s , " I have confidence that you will get all the information in the sentence that we require it . " And we did do it . I loved doing that picture , man . We just smoked up a tempest .
Hoa Xuande : Yeah , we were getting gamy off the fake cigarettes . [ Laughs ] It was hilarious , by the remainder of it , we were crawling out of there .
Sandra Oh : His confidence in his own visual sense was the confidence that he hand to , I cogitate , everyone on set .
The Captain & Ms. Mori’s Relationship Will Face One Major Struggle
Oh ’s Ms. Mori dish up as a primal figure in the Captain ’s evolution throughoutThe Sympathizer , introducing him to some of the unequalled elements of living in the United States and the struggles to come from being an Asian in the area . Despite the flying connexion they determine in one another , Oh and Xuande tease that one aspect of the Captain ’s personality could lead in trouble for their relationship :
Sandra Oh : You know why [ their relationship break down ] ? It ’s because he does n’t call me back . That ’s why he does not call me back .
Hoa Xuande : I ’m afraid . [ Laughs ]
Sandra Oh : That ’s true , though , the Captain is afraid .
Hoa Xuande : Yeah , that ’s the matter with meet Sandra for the first time . Rehearsals were so lovely and warm . I immediately was just like , " How am I going to relate to Ms. Mori in a way that I almost loathe her to love her ? " But the thing that I found interesting , I guess , in roleplay the Captain is that he ’s been so repressed in every room , his personal identity not being confident , even as a kid to digest up for himself , and even repress his own beliefs , trying to walk a thin line between who he is and who he is n’t . And that even permeates through to love , and his love life .
And then he meets Ms. Mori , who is this complimentary and emancipated fair sex who believes in the estimate that love is give freely . And it ’s such a strange and freeing idea that he ’s never really confronted before . It ’s like he wants to believe that he could be that , he wants to be intoxicate by it , but he ca n’t give himself into it enough , because he ’s never really given himself into anything before . And he ’s drive this one second —
Sandra Oh : He could have !
Hoa Xuande : He could have , and he ’s just afraid . And that really speaks a stack to , I hazard , the Captain ’s journeying . But even in this moment , he ’s just too afraid to let go of himself , to be with somebody .
Sandra Oh : And you may see deep into , like , 106 , Ms. Mori accept him , and really would admit all of him to a sealed point . And then , she ’s just like , " You need to go . " But she is so rum about his mystery , but at a sure point , as a liberated woman , she ’s not conk to look around for any man . And I personally love that . There ’s some foggy lines , and I think that she could have been a piddling bit more compassionate when you were in the hospital .
But the Captain does n’t even know himself . So , you see her really trying to crack him open , trying to make him more transparent , but he ’s not unforced to . And that at last is the reason why I believe she moves on to Sonny , who is much more occupied , and much more questioning . He ’s not unforced to answer questions , really serve questions . But I really did have sex their sort of kinetic draw .
Xuande & Oh Had Different Ways Of Getting Into TheirSympathizerCharacters
While many actors rule music as a helpful creature for get devise for their piece of work , Xuande and Oh found unlike methods of doing so . The former even allow that in his efforts to curate playlists for his roles , he has never " been successful " in , give he be given to lean on song that resonate with him , while the latter finds imagery to be a more utilitarian means for getting in the mood of the production :
Sandra Oh : Yeah , I got ta tell you , not so much music for me , I ’d say our press . Our hair , make-up and wardrobe really informed a circumstances , Danny . Yeah , Danny Glicker , our fantastical costume designer with vintage fabrics , that really helped , at least for me , get me into the blank space . Also , the tomentum and makeup that really helped that really helped me .
Hoa Xuande : I love the idea of curating playlists to get into characters , I just never have been successful in doing that . Because I tend to just lean into song that I care that have nothing to do with shows and the emotionality of a show . I kind of just sometimes lean too far into things that I like —
Sandra Oh : They give you an emotion ?
Hoa Xuande : They give me an emotion , but do n’t really of necessity fit the fourth dimension period . I cogitate , speaking to that , often it ’s because when I associate a lot of the songs that I get a line that are have-to doe with to the Vietnam War , they ’ve just been played over and over and over again . And then , when I get word those songs , I think about those images , as opposed to recreating and make impudent position . When you hear " Born in the USA , " or " Paint It Black " , or in Australia , it ’s like " The Last Train Out of Khe Sanh " .
I think they ’ve all been attached to very specific portrayal of the Vietnam War , and I ’m essay to get forth from that . So , a lot of what I do is ikon establish , and I reckon up images that will elicit those emotions from me as opposed to creating and curating playlists — which I love the idea of , I just have n’t been able to do that yet .
Sandra Oh : Yeah , the images of women and woman of colour in the Women ’s Lib movement , finding those eccentric , those pictures , on the internet with collages of that helped .
AboutThe Sympathizer
Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen ’s Pulitzer Prize - winning novel of the same name , THE SYMPATHIZER is an espionage thriller and cross - culture irony about the struggles of a half - French , half - Vietnamese communist undercover agent during the final days of the Vietnam War and his new lifespan as a refugee in Los Angeles , where he learns that his spying days are n’t over .
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New episodes of The Sympathizer melody Sundays on HBO and Max .
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free-base on the novel by Viet Thanh Nuyen , The Sympathizer explores the last day of the Vietnam War through the eyes of a half - Vietnamese , half - French undercover agent dish for the communistic government . The telly serial adaptation is set - up as a mini - serial publication and will belike still be framed as a confession from the supporter as they make their way through the warfare . Photo is of the original novel cover .
