Dustin Nguyen on Vietnamese culture in ‘The Accidental Getaway Driver’

Premiering at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, The Accidental Getaway Driver has been praised by critics for its genre-defying blend of Western noir, crime thriller, and emotionally resonant drama. But at the heart of the film is Nguyen’s performance, a culmination of his decades-long effort to push nuanced Vietnamese American narratives to the forefront of Hollywood. Known for his groundbreaking role in the 1987 series, 21 Jump Street, and later work in Little Fish, Warrior, and Dope Thief, Nguyen has spent years advocating for better representation both in front of and behind the camera. His portrayal of Tay is not just a character study, but a deeply personal reflection of the Vietnamese diasporic experience, marked by grief, resilience, and longing for belonging.

I recently caught up with the actor to discuss his approach to playing a character based on a real person, how the film—which had a limited theater release in February and expanded last month—subverts Vietnamese American culture, and his thoughts on the ways the entertainment industry has changed since he started acting in the 1980s.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Teresa Tran: Congratulations on the release of the film. It's incredible, and now it's officially out in the world. How do you feel about it finally being ready for the general public to see?
Dustin Nguyen: I was with Sing Lee, our director, for all the West Coast screenings and Q&As, and he was just telling me how well New York went. Apparently, we did quite well, and the film is expanding into more theaters, which is exciting, especially for a small film like this. Making these kinds of films is a long journey. There are so many good stories out there, and for a film like this to actually get out there for people to see is amazing. Of course, I'm biased.

TT: How were you first approached with this project, and what made you want to be a part of it?
DN: I was approached when the producers sent me the original GQ article written by Paul Kix. I think it came out a year after the real incident. At that time, there wasn't a script yet. My agent said, "Read this and see what you think." I was blown away. I could immediately relate to the characters, particularly Tay, the one I ended up playing.

Then, of course, the fear comes in, "Man, I hope they don’t screw this up." Even if I wasn’t involved, my fear was that they would miss the heart of the story, which to me is about two lonely souls who find each other. From there, I went on to do another project. Later, I was contacted again; this time, Sing was on board, and there was a script. Then, as the casting and financing came together, I went on to do Warrior for HBO. I thought I might not be able to do it after all. But in the end, everything worked out. As they say, it was meant to be.

TT: Can you talk a little bit about Tay? Did you do any research beyond the article? What was it about this character that really drew you in?
DN: From day one, there were also emotional aspects of Tay’s character I could relate to from my own life, as a Vietnamese immigrant man trying to fit into a world where I didn’t feel like I belonged. This is the beauty of it; all Vietnamese immigrants can relate to this struggle on that level. So there was a lot from my personal experience I could draw from for this role. Unlike other roles, I had the opportunity to meet the real people who inspired the characters. I actually met the real Long Ma; he came on set. But I chose not to meet the man who inspired Tay, whose real name is Bac Duong. We changed the name to Tay. I felt there was a danger of being shackled to who the real-life person is. I felt my responsibility was to be faithful to the script and the themes Sing and the producers wanted to examine. Now, it needs to be said that it does my heart good that I found out that the family of Bac Duong saw the film and they were really moved by it.

TT: Speaking of your character, this story takes place in Orange County, Southern California, where there’s a huge Vietnamese American population. While making the film, did you and the cast or crew think about how it might be received by the Vietnamese American community?
DN: I’ve never had a direct conversation with the producers or Sing about concerns around community perception, but I know that during pre-production, Sing and the team immersed themselves in Little Saigon, which most people have never been to, right? Or they have a certain idea of what Little Saigon is in Southern California. The team met locals, business owners, and really tried to understand that world.

I did tell Sing before signing on that I would only do this film if I had a say on how the Vietnamese language was used in the film. So many times I’ve been disappointed hearing Vietnamese spoken in films—it’s rarely done right. The pushback is usually, “It’s a small community, nobody’s going to know if it’s not right or perfect.” But for me, it was very important. So I had my hands full with all of that. Lastly, the producers had screened the film for the Vietnamese community down (in Little Saigon) before we even went to Sundance. That’s how much it meant to them that the community saw this film.

TT: As a Vietnamese person, I noticed some deeper cultural layers to the interactions (between Tay and Mr. Hiep’s character, the taxi driver, Long). Tay is a younger man, and Long is older, a grandfather figure, and in Vietnamese culture, there’s that respect for elders, honorifics, and hierarchy. But in the film, that’s subverted a bit because of the circumstances. Tay comes off as disrespectful at first, but understandably so. Did you think about that cultural subversion while filming?
DN: Yeah. Only Vietnamese people would pick up on that. Our mother tongue reflects those social dynamics so precisely. It was something I was very adamant about while working with the Vietnamese dialogue, especially the subject pronouns used between the characters. That’s a very important element in how people relate to one another in our culture. There’s a certain level of “disrespect” that Tay shows toward the old man when they first meet, which I felt would be appropriate to the character and situation. He just escaped from prison. The last thing he’s going to worry about is being polite. Eventually, Tay starts referring to himself as “con,” or younger person, in deference, and it signals that emotional shift and growing connection (between the characters). You can’t really capture that in English subtitles. It’s something Vietnamese viewers, the minute you hear that, it immediately stirs something in you. It’s like the difference between saying “mother” and “mommy.” Each one stirs a different kind of emotion.

TT: As someone who is Vietnamese, how did you feel about how director Sing handled this material, considering he’s not Vietnamese himself?
DN: I think he handled it more than well. In fact, I think the fact that he’s not Vietnamese is what allowed him to approach the story with a different kind of clarity. In other words, there’s less trappings because he’s not Vietnamese. He saw the story as a universal one, which allowed him to focus on the human elements that connect all of us. Some people have asked, “How did he direct the Vietnamese scenes if he didn’t understand the language? How do you judge the performance?” And sure, that’s a challenge. But it’s not unheard of. Clint Eastwood directed Letters From Iwo Jima without speaking Japanese, and that film was phenomenal.

TT: Congratulations on your other project Dope Thief. That’s huge—an Apple TV+ project. How did that filming experience compare to working on an independent film like The Accidental Getaway Driver?
DN: Thank you. I feel really fortunate to have been part of both projects. Honestly, in all my 30-plus years of working in this industry, I’ve been proud of every project I’ve done, but these two, Dope Thief and The Accidental Getaway Driver, are the best material I’ve ever been offered. They’re also the best representation of Vietnamese Americans I’ve seen on screen. Of course, Dope Thief is a very different world.

I can’t say too much about my role. Apple wants to keep it under wraps. It’s one of those roles that starts in one place and then really flips unexpectedly, which makes it so interesting. And it was eye-opening for me to learn about this Vietnamese enclave in Philadelphia. I didn’t even know it existed. So I had to really immerse myself in that world, including the accent. Usually, I’m the type who pushes back against having to do Vietnamese or Asian accents; it’s something I’ve resisted. But this was different. They wanted me to do a Philadelphia accent, and I was like, “Wow, that’s really something.” It was such a joy to work on. Like I said, both of these projects have been incredibly refreshing.