Robert Downey Jr., Hoa Xuande Play Men With Many Faces in New Trailer for ‘The Sympathizer’

“Welcome to the world of spycraft!”

HBO released the newest trailer for its upcoming series The Sympathizer, based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Robert Downey Jr. stars in and executive produces the seven-episode show alongside his wife and producing partner Susan Downey.

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“Biracial. Bilingual. I was a synthesis of incompatibilities, so what did I do?” Hoa Xuande’s The Captain says at the beginning of the trailer, over scenes of his spy work. “Saigon 1975. I was a man of two faces. The war was ending, and I awaited my new assignment.”

When his handler, played by Downey, appears in Vietnam, he tells The Captain his next job for the CIA is in America. “By the time I’m through with you, you’ll be able to blend in with the Harvard rowing crew,” Downey tells him.

As the two-and-half-minute trailer goes on, it shows that the spy may actually be a double agent, who actually works for the Viet Cong and is sent to the United States to be a mole for his home country.

Sandra Oh, Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Phanxine, Vy Le, Ky Duyen, Kieu Chinh, Duy Nguyen and Alan Trong round out the cast of The Sympathizer, co-created by Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar, who also serve as executive producers.

Per the logline, the HBO limited series “is an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his new life as a refugee in Los Angeles, where he learns that his spying days aren’t over.”

Downey’s role marks his first since winning the best supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

The Sympathizer premieres April 14.

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