Montreal actor Fred Nguen Khan is star of the new HBO series The Sympathizer.Max Montgomery/Supplied
At the heart of the new and excellent HBO limited series The Sympathizer rests a tricky game of identity politics. The adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel chronicles a group of Vietnamese refugees who make a new life for themselves in America, although some, including a North Vietnamese spy only known as the Captain (Hoa Xuande), have a hard time leaving old allegiances behind.
The show’s own behind-the-scenes genesis blends notions of geography and culture. The Vietnam-meets-America tale was mostly directed by a Korean filmmaker (Oldboy’s Park Chan-wook), co-written by a Canadian (Last Night’s Don McKellar), and produced by both Canadian (Rhombus Media) and American (HBO, A24) production companies. And it’s only appropriate that one of its breakout stars, Montreal-born Fred Nguyen Khan, who plays the Captain’s best friend Bon, also crosses borders with ease.
With The Sympathizer set to reach its midpoint this Sunday, Khan spoke with The Globe and Mail about his journey.
You grew up in Montreal and you had to relearn how to speak Vietnamese for the role. What was it like reintegrating your family’s culture at this stage in your life?
My family left Vietnam during the war in the ‘70s and my parents actually didn’t meet until they were in Montreal. I grew up on the South Shore and grew up among Quebecois people. I could speak a bit of Vietnamese to get by with my family, but to have an actual conversation? I was rusty. So I had to ask my best friend, Duy Nguyễn, who was also living in Montreal, to give me a crash course on how to read. Doing this show reignited an appreciation I didn’t know I needed to have for my culture.
So you were working on this series with your best friend, Duy Nguyễn, who also happens to be playing your character’s friend, Man, on the show?
Yes, it’s insane. That’s unheard of. Just one of us getting a role on this show was a miracle, but both of us? We still text each other now and then saying, uh, what just happened?
This was pure happenstance, right? You just happened to be each other’s audition partners on tape?
I got the first audition during the pandemic, in January, 2022. I needed a Vietnamese reader to play opposite me, and Duy and I were hanging out at the time. In Montreal, there are very few Vietnamese actors, and he was happy to help. My audition process lasted nine months – there were a lot of callbacks and meetings. By the time I got the role, he hadn’t even auditioned yet!
What does your family think of you starring in a big-budget Hollywood production that’s focused so specifically on Vietnamese refugees?
They’re very much the stereotypical Asian family, being very skeptical of people pursuing acting. And I don’t blame them! I understand their point of view now, after having shot this show. They came here with no resources and were restarting their entire lives, working so hard to survive and provide, so the idea of their kid pursuing something that is not at all stable is unheard of. I get it now. But they’re proud of me, and this is the first time they’ve seen me act in Vietnamese, so it’s a very full-circle moment. I’m playing a character who could have been my own family member.
You’ve been busy over the past decade, though, as a stunt performer and fight choreographer. How did you navigate the route from the stunt world to acting?
My first love has always been kung fu movies. Growing up, my father and I bonded over watching those. I was always hoping one day I’d be one of those Jet Li or Jackie Chan types. But stunt work landed in my lap randomly for me. My first gig was on The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, which shot in Montreal. I was just a random background soldier doing light stunt work, but it reignited something in me.
You’ve had an incredible journey in martial arts, going on to study at the famed Shaolin Temple in Henan province, China. You have the commitment.
Well, if you fly all the way there you have no choice but to walk into the Shaolin Temple. But it was an amazing experience. Shaolin-style was what I practiced from a very young age, starting at four years old, though I had stopped doing it by my teen years. The Mummy made me want to get back into it, to go straight to the source. My specialty now is fight choreography, which I did on The Sympathizer, too. But stunts, I’m comfortable with now. Acting is where I get nervous.
Do you see yourself staying in Montreal?
It’s home for now. I realize that I got this job while living in Montreal, so I can get work from anywhere with the emergence of self-taped auditions. Hopefully I can work on amazing projects across the world and don’t have to worry about living here as much as I used to.
New episodes of The Sympathizer air on HBO/Crave on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. ET.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
Barry Hertz