How ‘The Sympathizer’ Casting Director Crafted a Vietnamese Ensemble Over an ‘Insane and Cathartic’ Eight-Month Journey
variety.comSelome Hailu “The Sympathizer” is an epic about Vietnamese histories — plural. The HBO series takes its title from the experience of a North Vietnamese spy known as the Captain (Hoa Xuande), who embeds in a South Vietnamese community in 1970s Los Angeles after the war.
By the end, he has nearly lost his sense of himself after struggling to make sense of the infinite political ideologies held by his country’s people and the fact that none had put an end to human suffering.
That’s a lot to hold — too much, in fact, for one person. So casting director Jennifer Venditti, known best for crafting the ensembles of “Euphoria,” “Uncut Gems” and more, went on an eight-month worldwide journey to find actors whose overlapping performances, and personal histories, would add layers to the Captain’s journey.
Traditional auditions aren’t Venditti’s style. “Part of my process is I do interviews with people as well,” she says. “Their stories and their relationships with their family, made [the show] intense and cathartic.” For example, of the actors who play the three “blood brothers” — the Captain and his best friends Man (Duy Nguyen) and Bon (Fred Nguyen Khan) — only Nguyen grew up in Vietnam, having immigrated to Canada later in life, which is fitting, as Man’s letters become the Captain’s only connection to Vietnam after leaving L.A.
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