Hoa Xuande has landed the lead role in HBO/A24’s The Sympathizer, a series adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
Xuande will star as The Captain, a spy for North Vietnam embedded in the refugee community in Los Angeles, who is caught between conflicting loyalties.
The satricial thriller, produced by and co-starring Robert Downey Jr, is understood to have had a extensive open casting process that took 10 months and spanned the US, UK, Canada, Europe, Australia and Vietnam.
In the novel, The Captain is the narrator. The series will centre on his struggles a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and resulting exile in the US.
Starring alongside Xuande and Downey Jr in the ensemble are Fred Nguyen Khan as the Bon, the Captain’s childhood friend; Toan Le as The General, the larger-than-life former leader of the South Vietnamese Secret Police; Vy Le as Lana, the rebellious daughter of the General; and Alan Trong as Sonny, an idealistic former classmate of the Captain and now editor of a Los Angeles Vietnamese-language newspaper. Downey Jr. will play multiple antagonists that represent arms of the American establishment.
Production is currently underway in LA on the project, a co-production between HBO, A24, Rhombus Media in association with Cinetic Media and Moho Film. Further production will take place in Thailand.
Park Chan-wook writes and directs, and is co-showrunner with Don McKellar.
Park and McKellar are the EPs with Downey Jr, Susan Downey and Amanda Burrell for Team Downey. Kim Ly, Ron Schmidt and Nguyen also executive produce with Niv Fichman for Rhombus Media and Jisun Back for Moho Film.
Based in Sydney, Xuande will be seen in Helium/Paramount+’s Last King of the Cross as Romeo, and was one of the leads in AACTA-nominated indie A Stitch in Time. Other credits include Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop, Hungry Ghosts, Ronny Chieng International Student, Top of the Lake: China Girl and Top Knot Detective.
Xuande is represented by Morrissey Management and Industry Entertainment.