Park Chan-wook’s war drama television series based on the book The Sympathizer is a marked reminder that the very own godfather of the snowballing Marvel Cinematic Universe has found light on the other end of the tunnel.
Robert Downey Jr.’s involvement in the adaptation came as good news to most who felt deprived, drained, and robbed of the incredible actor’s on-screen presence ever since he bowed for the last time before the curtain fell on the Infinity Saga.
With The Sympathizer rectifying that abhorrent error, the fans who originally began to familiarize themselves with RDJ – the actor – after separating him from his earlier troubled persona, began to flock beyond Marvel’s definitive boundaries to witness the enigmatic actor creating ripples and waves elsewhere in the industry.
Robert Downey Jr. at an AFI event
Also read: “The things we do for our kids”: Robert Downey Jr. Shaves His Head for His Next Project, The Sympathizer, to Play the Role of a 5-Year-Old
Robert Downey Jr.’s Wild BTS Look From The Sympathizer
Set to be framed during the end of the Vietnam War, the adaptation of novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning literary debut features Robert Downey Jr. in multiple roles within the context of the plot. But superficial details are all that have been made available related to the television series. As such, when New York Post released a behind-the-scenes picture of Robert Downey Jr. from the set, it was bound to go viral overnight.
In the picture, RDJ dons a curly red-headed hair peace that mercilessly shows a receding hairline. Recently, the Iron Man actor appeared on red-carpet events and screening shows where he flaunted a shaved head. Although it wasn’t an odd look, the sudden act was a cause for speculation among the fans, considering how he hadn’t claimed any specific reason behind his decision to go bald.
It now looks as if Robert Downey Jr. sacrificed his hair to save some trouble for makeup artists on the set of The Sympathizer.
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Also read: Robert Downey Jr. Looks Absolutely Unrecognizable in Oldboy Director Park Chan-wook’s The Sympathizer: “The face of a man who won’t break character”
Robert Downey Jr. & Park Chan-wook Collaborate on Series
The Sympathizer is being helmed by the South Korean director, Park Chan-wook, whose known works include ingenious works such as Oldboy and Decision to Leave. The HBO limited series marks his first collaboration with the two-time Oscar-nominated actor, Robert Downey Jr. When asked about RDJ in a 2022 interview with Collider, the director claimed – “all the great actors are very picky” – but the values represented within the novel were one of the reasons why the Marvel star decided to hop onboard.
Park Chan-wook
Also read: “All the great actors are very picky”: Oldboy Director Park Chan-wook on Working With MCU Superstar Robert Downey Jr. for The Sympathizer Series
In a recent article with Variety, the director further commented: “Working with Robert — he’s such an amazing actor and such an energetic man and a joy to be around.” Downey Jr. too expressed heightened interest in the project, reporting to Deadline, “It’s exactly the type of challenge I’ve been craving, and I believe we will deliver an exceptional viewing experience to our audience.”
The series is set to be a genre-exploring work delving into historical fiction and espionage thriller. Robert Downey Jr. will serve as different variants of the main antagonist, “all of whom represent a different arm of the American establishment”, according to the report by Deadline. The HBO and A24 series will also feature Sandra Oh, Hoa Xuande, Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Vy Le, and Alan Trong.
A release date for The Sympathizer hasn’t been declared yet.
Source: New York Post
