Park Chan-wook's 'The Sympathizer': Cast, plot, source novel, trailer
Oldboy and Decision to Leave fame South Korean director Park Chan-wook is ready to enrapture audiences with his upcoming historical black comedy miniseries The Sympathizer. Park has co-created it alongside Don McKellar, with directing duties for the first three episodes also resting with Park. The series has been produced by leading Hollywood production company A24 and will premiere on HBO on April 14, 2024.
Miniseries has been adapted from a successful novel
It draws its story from Viet Thanh Nguyen's namesake novel. Goodreads says, "[It's] the story of [a] captain...a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause. A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story."
These actors will headline the miniseries
The Sympathizer stars Robert Downey Jr. in multiple antagonist roles, alongside Hoa Xuande, Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Vy Le, Ky Duyen, Kieu Chinh, and Sandra Oh. Downey Jr. is also co-producing alongside his wife-producer Susan Downey. Xuande shared his experience of working with the Oppenheimer actor, "He lent this comforting hand on my shoulder and said, 'We're in this together.'"
The 'Iron Man' actor blew Park away
Downey Jr. has been the driving force behind The Sympathizer. Park shared, "I was astounded by how quickly he was able to come up with a very different performance—he'd do a different improv for each and every take." "Even when I had a good enough take, I had to fall back and suppress myself from asking for more. It was unbelievable to see."
The makers wanted to keep the book's essence intact
Speaking about the challenges of book-to-screen adaptation, McKellar said, "Our main strategy was to replicate that voice (the book's voice) cinematically by bringing in Park Chan-wook, because he really shared that sensibility. His work has that edge." "He can do satire, he can be devastating, but he also has this playfulness and this wit." McKellar is known for Crime of the Future (2022).
Nguyen is already a big Park fan
Speaking to The Korea Herald, Nguyen shared his excitement about the adaptation. "It's a thrill for any writer to have their book adapted and [personally], a particular thrill because I am very excited to be working with [Park], whose work I have greatly admired even before I wrote the novel." He added that the novel is a "satire" of Hollywood and movie adaptations.