When a friend lent her the American novel The Sympathizer (2015) — winner of the Pulitzer Prize — to entertain himself during the confinement linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fred Nguyen Khan was far from suspecting that his entire life would be turned upside down by this work, in a completely unexpected way.
The Montreal comedian had read about half the book when he was invited to audition for an HBO-produced series adapted from the novel. “I was already completely captivated by my reading, and I was delighted to see that, for the first time, a Hollywood project would be interested in chronicling the Vietnam War from the point of view of the Vietnamese. We often have access to the perspective of the American army and soldiers, which is also important. But in Vietnam, the story does not end with conflict. »
Divided into seven episodes, The Sympathizer tells the misadventures of “Captain” (Hoa Xuande), a communist spy infiltrated in the South Vietnamese army. Particularly gifted, the double agent manages to become aide-de-camp to the general at the head of the secret police of the South, in addition to being recruited by Claude (Robert Downey Jr.), an American secret agent who trains him in the techniques of CIA interrogation.
When Saigon falls, the Captain is responsible for drawing up a list of South Vietnamese nationals who will be able to flee the country in the planes reserved by the general. Exiled in the United States among a refugee community, he continues to report to the North Vietnamese, struggling between his loyalty to his homeland and his growing taste for his new life.
He’s a director [Park Chan-wook] very precise, very methodical. His “storyboard” is completed well before the start of filming, which means that he does not need a lot of explanation to bring us to his vision.
The opportunity of a lifetime
Fred Nguyen Khan, who plays a grieving friend of the Captain who follows him into exile, had to undergo a nine-month audition process before landing the role. In addition to opening the doors of Hollywood wide for him, this tour de force also allowed the actor to work with the esteemed Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden), co-creator and co-writer of the series, who notably directed the first three episodes.
“I learned so much about cinema,” underlines the actor. He is a very precise, very methodical director. Her storyboard is completed well before filming begins, which means that it doesn’t need much explanation to bring us to its vision. He gives very specific instructions on the orientation of the body, pauses in dialogue, movements, but leaves a lot of freedom in terms of understanding the character. He is a master at composing scenes. »
Born in Quebec to parents of Vietnamese origin, Fred Nguyen Khan had to relearn his mother tongue, which he had not spoken since his early childhood, to take on his role. “That was the biggest challenge of filming for me. Fortunately, I was well surrounded. I feel really lucky to have been able to reconnect with this part of me. »
Sublimate the original
The actor is not the only Canadian to have been involved in this television adventure. Quebecois Duy Nguyen plays one of the Captain’s childhood friends. “We are friends in life. It’s almost a miracle that we both got roles. »
In addition, Canadian actress of South Korean origin Sandra Oh also plays a small role.
Canadian screenwriter and director Don McKellar was also selected as co-showrunner and co-writer alongside Park Chan-wook. “He really wanted to do the series, but didn’t want to carry all the responsibility on his shoulders,” explains Mr. McKellar. As the two artists had already written a screenplay together, an adaptation of The Axe, a novel by Donald Westlake about an unemployed man who murders his competitors to find a job – “I think it’s his next film project” – the collaboration was a natural fit. “Already, when producer Niv Fichman put the book in my hands, a perfect blend of intelligence, ideas, popular culture and genre elements, I immediately felt that the writer’s voice matched the style visual by Park Chan-wook. »
In fact, the author of The SympathizerViet Thanh Nguyen, in interview with the magazine The New Yorkersaid he was influenced by the “sumptuous and strange” style ofOldboy (2003), Park’s biggest success, during his writing process.
Park Chan-wook is used to working from literary materials. Oldboy was adapted from a manga and The Handmaiden (2016) and the series The Little Drummer Girl (BBC, 2018) were based on novels by Sarah Waters and John le Carré. Even Thirst (2009), an erotic film featuring vampires, was inspired by Therese Raquin, by Émile Zola.
Each time, the sumptuous and brilliant style of the filmmaker sublimates the original work. This is also the case here, where Park Chan-wook multiplies the jumps in time, skillfully mixes genres, suggests realism or fabulation through aesthetics, alternates between tragedy and humor, more intimate scenes and large-scale spectacles , never taking the viewer by the hand.
For Don McKellar, this eclectic and precise vision served as a creative engine. “Initially, we had several conversations about the overall look and feel of the series and the narrative devices we would use to bring to life this polyphonic narrative, which is expressly about how we tell and receive stories. I wrote the pilot first, and then Park came back to me with very explicit changes, which guided me. What followed was a series of back and forth texts, for which we worked in close collaboration. It’s very exciting and inspiring to write for someone who has such a level of precision in their vision. »
The series therefore multiplies the ways of telling, in particular to do justice to the different perspectives at play. In this regard, Park Chan-wook had the idea of entrusting four distinct characters to the actor Robert Downey Jr., who plays in turn in turn a CIA agent, a conservative congressman, a professor with a fetish for the “Orient” and a filmmaker on set.
“We wanted to portray the current figure of the American “establishment” as an antagonist who offers opportunities to the Captain, but always in exchange for something. The fact of imagining different characters who represent this one and the same idea allows it to be transmitted without falling into repetition. It also established the tone, the performative aspect of the series. Robert Downey Jr. was ideally suited to endorse this symbol. »