On the surface, of Viet Thanh Nguyen compassionate is the perfect target for adaptation.

First, it’s a novel — one of the more lucrative source materials for an industry that’s always hungry for existing IP and built-in audiences.

Second, it’s a Pulitzer Prize winner, a badge of honor that’s already been a boon for similar adaptations. Spotlight, Driving Miss Daisy And Glengarry Glen Ross.

But in fact, there was a problem. Not only is the story complex—following a suspected communist double agent as he travels back and forth between the U.S. and Vietnam during the Vietnam War—it’s also deeply rooted in representation and culture.

“The literary industry and the entire social and cultural system of the United States works to encourage writers of color to write for white people,” Nguyen was quoted as saying. Guardian After winning the Pulitzer in 2016.

“If I had written this book for a white audience, I would have sold it for a lot of money and many publishers would have bid for it.”

look Trailer of Hamdard:

Ngyuen signed on to work on the HBO adaptation and recently Pulled over to the side of the road To take photos with his family in front of the billboard.

But this excitement with the final product doesn’t eliminate the difficulty of bringing a story to the small screen that focuses on the Vietnamese people’s experience. Making it less difficult was the fact that one of the series’ co-creators, Don McKellar, is from all over the world.

“Obviously it’s not my heritage,” said McKellar, a Canadian actor and creator The Red Violin, blindness and many Canadian television.

“It’s a story about Vietnam after the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese diaspora community. It’s — no, I’m not affiliated with it.”

Canadian influence

He first got the call when his old friend and now co-creator Park Chan-wook – recalling their past experience writing screenplays together – asked McKellar to help him take on the load.

After reading the book—which focuses on a half-French, half-Vietnamese man who feels so conflicted and at war with his identity that he describes himself as a “man of two minds.” Yes, McKellar began to see this obstacle as such. Benefit

Being from Canada, he said, at least gave a unique mirror to feel like an American, but somewhat removed.

“We have such a gap on America, and we feel like we’re in the middle sometimes,” McKellar said. “So I think we’re well equipped for that.”

This feeling was incorporated into the finished product everywhere. He also explained how he could fill the void in what was essentially a dark story of cruelty, war and pain told in a sardonic, raspy voice.

This was partially accomplished by hiring Robert Downey Jr. for quadruple duty—the actor plays four characters in a psychedelic-type comedy that only come together in the finale.

Downey Jr. was the first name considered for the role, McKellar said, because it required a technically skilled actor who could do more than “just play himself.” And after a meeting with McKellar, in which the actor ranted, cracking jokes about characters and scenes, he was hired immediately.

Casting the captain

But the most important role was that of the star – the captain. It requires a young, physically fit man who can speak both English and Vietnamese better than average – not to mention be a talented actor.

McKellar said he was initially spoiled for choice, but eventually landed on Hoa Xuande, an Australian of Vietnamese background.

After taking on the role, Xuande had to undergo a two-week “crash course” to relearn both her language and her heritage.

Growing up in Australia, she said she felt a complicated — but strong — connection to the country, and never felt comfortable speaking Vietnamese.

And once again, what was a hindrance became an advantage.

“That’s the duality you see in the captain, that he’s never enough and that’s never enough,” Xuande said.

“You know, what part of himself does he identify with the most? What parts of himself does he love or hate? And that was something I felt I didn’t have to work too hard on. . Book.”

‘Put yourself on the other side’

The book reads like a confession written personally by the captain, so it was important to include the character’s voice. And although the narrative carries over to the series, some changes were necessary for the TV adaptation.

Trying to take this inherently personal storytelling from the page to the screen presents more of a problem than usual, as the show deals with a complex war told from the perspective of a man who sympathizes with him. goes, and finds fault with every element. Where it belongs.

McKellar said his goal in creating the series was not to avoid it, but to capitalize on it.

“It’s saying ‘put yourself on the other side.’ And there’s always another side,” he said. “It’s important to understand if we have any empathy or objectivity, when we discuss wars, (when) we discuss anything.”

“It’s kind of liberating, finally, to throw aside these kinds of preconceived notions that we have.