By Chris McAsey

It’s hard to describe the recent career trajectory of Vietnamese-Australian actor Hoa Xuande. ‘Tectonic shift’ might come closest – such is the magnitude of change in Hoa’s profile after his brilliant performance in The Sympathizer, HBO’s limited series now streaming on Binge in Australia.

From being a relative unknown on the international stage, with credits in Australian productions such as Ronny Chieng International Student, Hoa was cast as the lead in The Sympathizer alongside Academy Award winner Robert Downey Jr. and Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh.

In footy terms, it’s like being plucked from a suburban league to play in the AFL Grand Final.

And the footy analogy isn’t far off the mark, because as a kid growing up in Melbourne, all Hoa wanted to do was play AFL for Collingwood.

‘I had a poster of Nathan Buckley up on my wall,’ Xuande told The Age in a recent interview.

‘For me, he was my idol because he captained the Pies for a long time.

‘To be a part of that story, or even to have the chance to play for a team like that, was my goal growing up.’

Born in Sydney to Vietnamese immigrant parents, the family later moved to Melbourne where Hoa developed his passion for AFL.

He told Esquire magazine that ‘…[growing up] we played a lot of sports. That was my way of assimilating into the culture, and I was very into it.

‘It’s not like I felt like I had to do it – it’s just what I loved.’

After finishing school at Trinity Grammar, Hoa studied journalism, worked in bars and even sold telecommunication products door-to-door before deciding to pursue acting.

He graduated from the prestigious Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAPA) and went on to play supporting roles in local productions Ronny Chieng: International Student (2016-17), Hungry Ghosts (2020) and the Netflix series Cowboy Bebop (2021).

In Ronny Cheng, he even got to show off some footy skills as the gun recruit for a Melbourne university team in an episode titled ‘Asian Rules Football’.

But being cast as the lead in The Sympathizer was the springboard for Hoa to rise above the pack and flex his acting talent.

After an exhaustive nine-month auditioning process, Hoa was chosen to play ‘The Captain’, a communist North Vietnamese agent embedded on the South Vietnamese side.

The seven-part series not only co-stars Robert Downey Jr. and Sandra Oh but has legendary director Park Chan-wook as co-showrunner. It was an incredibly challenging environment for a relatively inexperienced actor to step into.

Hoa’s role is central to the entire series and he was on set almost every day for the six-month shoot.

‘I had like one and a half days off, and a lot of the time I was just thinking, “I’m in way over my head on this,” ‘ he told The Hollywood Reporter.

Despite the pressure and punishing demands of the shoot, Hoa’s performance as a charismatic but conflicted spy is a triumph. Time magazine described it as spectacular’. Collider said it was ‘outstanding’ and Britain’s Radio Times called it ‘a remarkable performance from start to finish’.

Downey Jr., who has been nominated for an Emmy for his performance in The Sympathizer (unbelievably, as four different characters), was full of admiration as he witnessed Hoa’s growth during the shoot.

‘Over the course of what was a very complicated and taxing shoot, I witnessed his quiet confidence blossom,’ he told The Hollywood Reporter.

‘Can’t wait to see what he does next, and I’m already thinking of another project for us.’

After re-connecting with his Vietnamese background through his performance, Hoa is also enjoying leveraging his ‘Australian-ness’ in America.

‘Now, in Los Angeles, I feel like I have this special quality of being Australian,’ he told Esquire.

‘It sets me apart a little bit. Culturally, Australia and America are very different. So I feel like whatever I’ve inherited from being raised there I can carry into who I am here in L.A.’

The 2024 Asia Cup, part of the refreshed AFL-sanctioned international program will be held at Thanh Long Sports Center in Ho Chi Minh City from 6-8 December. Invited nations include host country Vietnam and all affiliated AFL Asia countries, including, but not limited to Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

More information: https://www.afl.com.au/news/1180125/afls-asia-cup-set-for-vietnam-in-december-2024