Robert Downey Jr. nominated for Emmy for role in Park Chan-wook's 'The Sympathizer'

Movies

Published: 18 Jul. 2024, 13:48

Robert Downey Jr. nominated for Emmy for role in Park Chan-wook's 'The Sympathizer'

A still from director Park Chan-wook's latest black comedy series ″The Sympathizer″ [COUPANG PLAY][COUPANG PLAY]

Actor Robert Downey Jr. has been nominated for an Emmy Award for his role in Korean auteur Park Chan-wook's first U.S. TV series “The Sympathizer."

Downey Jr.'s name was included in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category in the list of nominees for the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, released by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences on Wednesday.

Historical black comedy drama “The Sympathizer” — released in April — is an HBO original series adapted from the 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Vietnamese American author Viet Thanh Nguyen.

The story follows an anonymous narrator referred to as “the Captain,” a North Vietnamese mole in the South Vietnamese army who is forced to flee to the United States near the end of the Vietnam War.

Downey Jr. played a total of five roles in “The Sympathizer”: CIA agent Claude, Professor Robert Hammer, congressperson Ned Godwin, filmmaker Niko Damianos and a character referred to as “the Priest.”

“The Sympathizer” is Park’s first work since the neo-noir romantic mystery film “Decision to Leave” (2022), for which he won Best Director at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Park also participated in “The Sympathizer” as its co-runner, executive producer and writer.

"The Sympathizer" is currently available for streaming on Coupang Play.

Korean American Sue Mi Terry — a former CIA employee and senior official at the U.S. National Security Council — has also been nominated for an Emmy Award in the Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking category, as producer for the South Korean documentary “Beyond Utopia” which highlights the defecting process of North Korean citizens.

Terry has been indicted on charges of working as an unregistered agent for the South Korean government, according to the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]