Summary
- Robert Downey Jr. takes on four unique roles in the challenging and prestigious new series
The Sympathizer
on HBO Max. - Park Chan-wook directs the show (along with Marc Munden and Fernando Meirelles), aiming to have Downey represent different faces of America in a non-cartoonish way.
- The risk-taking nature of the production promises a compelling adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, with a big reveal in episode seven.
Hot off his Oscar win for Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr. is starring in another prestige project, one that might be his most challenging yet. The Iron Man actor is starring in the new HBO Max series, The Sympathizer, and like Oppenheimer, it’s another supporting performance — actually, four of them. Based on the acclaimed book by Nguyễn Thanh Việt, Hoa Xuande stars as a Vietnamese spy named The Captain who heads to the United States after the Vietnam War and continues gathering intelligence and reporting to the Viet Cong. Downey Jr. plays a film director (inspired by Francis Ford Coppola), a congressional representative, a professor, and a CIA operative.
Release Date April 14, 2024
Seasons 1
Streaming Service(s) Max
The Sympathizer is helmed by the brilliant Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) and Don McKellar (Last Night), who discussed the show at its Los Angeles premiere. They were joined by executive producers Amanda Burrell and Niv Fichman, and explained the curious casting of Downey Jr. Through a translator (via The Hollywood Reporter), Park Chan-wook said that, “even though each of the characters from all of the four have different occupations and they might have different characteristics, in essence it was very important they were faces that represent America.” He added:
So in order to convey this idea very clearly and directly, I came to the conclusion that I’d have one actor portray all these different characters so that audiences can understand clearly.
“We wanted the characters to be different but not cartoonishly different from one another,” added McKellar. “We wanted to see the man underneath because that was kind of the point, that they’re all connected in some way.”
Robert Downey Jr. ‘Wanted to Do Something Risky’
At the same premiere, Amanda Burrell, who is also the president of the actor’s Team Downey production company, said that they “really wanted to do something risky, and the risk scared us. How were these characters going to look? But if you aren’t a little scared, I don’t think anything is worth doing, so we kind of jumped off the bridge.” Co-producer Niv Fichman added that the last thing they wanted to do was “just a gimmick.” He said:
“[Downey] challenged them, and I’m not going to reveal what they came up with to actually entrench that conceit into the actual character,
but it’s revealed in episode seven
. So it’s not just a conceit, there’s something that’s very, very visceral and very important and emotionally connected to The Captain’s journey that
Robert was the one who challenged them [on] and it’s the big reveal of the show
.”
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Downey Jr. has certainly proved himself as the kind of actor who elevates a production and lifts the talent of everyone involved, so it will be exciting to see what he does in this mysterious miniseries. Combine that with the immaculate talent behind the show (in addition to Park Chan-wood, the great Marc Munden and Fernando Meirelles will also direct the show), and The Sympathizer seems like a must-watch. The first episode airs tonight, April 14, at 9 p.m. and will stream on Max the next day through the link below. New episodes air each Sunday night.
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