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Dustin Nguyen

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Dustin Nguyen
Born
Nguyễn Xuân Trí

(1962-09-17) September 17, 1962 (age 62)
Saigon, South Vietnam
Nationality Vietnam
 United States
Occupations
  • Actor
  • filmmaker
  • martial artist
Years active1985–present
Spouses
(m. 2001; div. 2012)
(m. 2012)
Children3[1]

Dustin Nguyen (born Nguyễn Xuân Trí, September 17, 1962) is a VietnameseAmerican actor and martial artist. He is best known for his roles as Harry Truman Ioki on 21 Jump Street and as Johnny Loh on VIP.[2] Currently, he stars as Zing in the Cinemax/Max martial arts crime drama series Warrior. In film, he is known for starring in Little Fish, The Doom Generation and The Rebel.[3]

Early life

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Nguyen was born Nguyễn Xuân Trí in Saigon, South Vietnam and was one of two sons in his family.[4] His mother, My Le, was an actress and dancer, and his father, Xuân Phát, was an actor, comedian, writer, and producer in Vietnam.[5] The family left Vietnam in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon.[6]

In his teens, his family arrived in Guam as refugees, and then the family was moved to a refugee camp in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. Finally with the assistance of a Methodist church they relocated to Des Peres, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.[6][4] The 21 Jump Street season 2 episode "Christmas in Saigon", which first aired in December 1987, is based in his experiences escaping Vietnam and eventually arriving in the United States; Nguyen also served as a technical advisor in the episode.

Nguyen graduated from Garden Grove High School in Garden Grove, California, he attended Orange Coast College[2] and majored in communications but later dropped out to pursue acting full time.[4]

Nguyen practices several martial arts including Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Eskrima, and Jeet Kune Do.[6]

Career

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He made his acting debut on Magnum, P.I., portraying a Cambodian freedom fighter in the episode "All For One." He was a series regular on both 21 Jump Street and VIP, and has guest-starred on a number of other series, including General Hospital, Highlander, and most notably seaQuest DSV, playing the role of Chief William Shan. Moreover, he had a cameo role in Charlie's Angels. Nguyen also auditioned for the role of Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat, but lost out to Robin Shou.[7] In 1993 he played a Vietnamese man sent off to fight with the Viet Cong, in the film Heaven & Earth. In 2005, Nguyen starred as a former heroin addict opposite Academy Award-winner Cate Blanchett in the critically acclaimed Little Fish.[8] He starred in the 2007 films The Rebel and Saigon Eclipse. In 2008 he starred in the Vietnamese martial art film Huyen Thoai Bat Tu (The Legend Is Alive, The Immortal Legend)[9] where he plays a mentally disabled martial artist. Nguyen screened in 2009 the thriller The Gauntlet directed by Matt Eskandari; he stars with Chinese actress Bai Ling. He made a small cameo in 22 Jump Street as Vietnamese Jesus.[10]

Nguyen continues to act and make films in Vietnam full-time. He made his feature directorial debut in the Vietnamese fantasy film Once Upon a Time in Vietnam, in which he also starred. He then starred in the Vietnamese film Gentle that premiered at the 2015 Busan International Film Festival where he received strong reception for his performance.[11]

He was cast in Cinemax's Warrior in a recurring role before he officially joined the main cast in season two of the series.[12]

Nguyen also was cast in The Accidental Getaway Driver which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.[13]

Personal life

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After a car accident late at night that occurred on September 3, 2001, on California's Interstate 5 Highway between San Francisco and Los Angeles during a Labor Day weekend which left his fiancée, Angela Rockwood, a paraplegic, Nguyen and Rockwood became active in The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center. The accident also claimed the life of Vietnamese actress Thuy Trang, a member of the original cast of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as the original Yellow Ranger, Trini. He and Rockwood divorced in 2012.

Nguyen is based in Vietnam full-time. In 2012, he married Vietnamese actress-model Bebe Pham with whom he has two daughters, born in 2013 and 2015.[14]

He is fluent in English and Vietnamese.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1985 Sunset Strip Chinese Youth
1991 Earth Angel Peter
1992 Rapid Fire Paul Yang
1993 No Escape, No Return Tommy Cuff
Heaven & Earth Sau
1994 3 Ninjas Kick Back Glam
Vanishing Son II Hung
Vanishing Son IV
1995 Virtuosity Suburban Reporter
The Doom Generation Quickiemart Clerk
1998 Hundred Percent Isaac
2003 The Break
2005 Little Fish Jonny Actor
2007 Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee Troy Poon
Saigon Eclipse Kim
The Rebel Sy Actor
2009 The Legend Is Alive Long Actor
2010 Fool for Love Dung
Floating Lives Vo Actor
2011 The Gauntlet Jin-Soo
Popular Dysfunctions Comandante Chitt
2013 Once Upon a Time in Vietnam Dao Director/Actor
2014 22 Jump Street Vietnamese Jesus/Harry Truman Ioki Cameo
2015 The Man with the Iron Fists 2 Li Kung Actor
Jackpot Tu Nghia Director/Actor
Zero Tolerance Johnny Actor
Gentle Thien Actor
2016 I'll Wait Director
2017 Voodoo Doll Hung Actor
2022 Blade of the 47 Ronin Lord Nikko Actor
2023 The Accidental Getaway Driver Tây Actor

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1983 General Hospital Suki
1985 Magnum, P.I. Joe 2 episodes
1986 The A-Team Bobby Episode: "Point of No Return"
1987 Shell Game Doug Episode: "Pai Gow"
1987–1990 21 Jump Street Officer Harry Truman Ioki Main role (seasons 1–4); 82 episodes
1989 Danger Bay Duk Chin Episode: "Open Book"
1992 The Commish Robert Hue Episode: "Charlie Don't Surf"
Street Justice Episode: "Bad Choices"
Highlander Chu Lin Episode: "The Road Not Taken"
1993 Murder, She Wrote David Kuan Episode: "A Death in Hong Kong"
Highlander Jimmy Sang Episode: "Revenge of the Sword"
SeaQuest DSV Chief William Shan 4 episodes
1994–1996 Phantom 2040 Tranh 5 episodes
1995 Vanishing Son Hung Episode: "Single Flame"
VR.5 Ky Buchanan Episode: "Simon's Choice"
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Lo Gee Episode: "Flying Fists of Fury II"
1997 Die Gang Marc Wiessner Main role; 13 episodes
1999–2002 VIP Johnny Loh Main role (seasons 3–4); 62 episodes
2003 JAG Lt. Bao Hien Episode: "Fortunate Son"
2009 The Unit Transit Officer Episode: "Chaos Theory"
2011 Gordon's Great Escape Guest Episode 2.2: "Vietnam"
2012 The Amazing Race Vietnam Host Season 1
2018 This Is Us Bao Episode: "Sometimes"
2019–2023 Warrior Zing Recurring (season 1); main role (season 2)[15]
TBA Sinking Spring Ho Dinh Upcoming miniseries

Producer

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Awards

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In March 2009, Nguyen won the Vietnamese Cánh Diều Vàng (Golden Kite Award) for best actor, for his starring role in the Phuoc Sang Films vehicle Huyền Thoại Bất Tử (The Legend Is Alive).[17][18] For the same role, that year he won a Golden Lotus Award (Vietnam's Oscar) for Best Actor. He also won China's Golden Rooster Award for Best International Actor at China's Golden Rooster and Thousand Flowers International Film Festival 2009.

In 2015, at the Milan International Film Festival, Dustin won the Leonardo da Vinci Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor in the Vietnamese film Gentle; an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's A Gentle Creature.

References

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  1. ^ "Dustin Nguyen on Instagram: "Missing my princesses."".
  2. ^ a b Levine, Robert (May 24, 1994). "Taking a Big Leap From 'Jump Street' After finding success in the '80s on the police show, Dustin Nguyen is moving into films and 'seaQuest' while sharpening his martial arts skills. Series: Fast Track: Up and Comers in Arts and Entertainment * One in a Series". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  3. ^ "dustin nguyen 21 jump street star on life in vietnam". People.
  4. ^ a b c Brennan, Patricia (December 13, 1987). "Dustin Nguyen Out Of Saigon And into TV". The Washington Post. cglass.vinu.edu. Archived from the original on January 10, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  5. ^ Knutzen, Eirik (July 4, 1987). "One Jump ahead". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  6. ^ a b c Chen, Vivien Lou (May 1, 1992). "Jobless Actor Rejects Asian Stereotypes Series". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  7. ^ Dustin Nguyen: A Man Ahead of His Time, November 22, 2019
  8. ^ Chang, Richard (March 31, 2009). "Vietnamese film festival returns to O.C." ocregister.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  9. ^ Brown, Todd (November 27, 2008). "Dustin Nguyen Returns in Vietnamese Action Drama THE LEGEND IS ALIVE (HUYỀN THOẠI BẤT TỬ)". ScreenAnarchy. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  10. ^ "'21 Jump Street' veteran plays Vietnamese Jesus Christ in big-screen sequel". United Press International. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  11. ^ Brown, Todd (January 23, 2015). "GENTLE: Watch Dustin Nguyen In Vietnamese Dostoyevsky Adaptation". ScreenAnarchy. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  12. ^ Petski, Denise (May 9, 2019). "'Warrior' Casts Four For Season 2 Of Cinemax Drama Series; Promotes Dustin Nguyen To Regular". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  13. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic (December 7, 2022). "Sundance Film Festival Lineup Set With Ukraine War, Little Richard, Michael J. Fox, Judy Blume Docs; Pics With Anne Hathaway, Emilia Clarke, Jonathan Majors; More". Deadline. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  14. ^ "Dustin Nguyen: 21 Jump Street Star on Life in Vietnam". People. February 25, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  15. ^ "Perry Yung on Instagram: "#dustinnguyen in da house! It's getting hot in here now. #hbo #CinemaxWarrior"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  16. ^ "Netflix's "A Tourist's Guide To Love" Rounds Out Cast". About Netflix. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  17. ^ Brown, Todd (March 3, 2009). "Dustin Nguyen Star Vehicle The Legend is Alive Dominates The Vietnamese Golden Kite Awards". ScreenAnarchy. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  18. ^ "culture vulture". vnagency.com. December 24, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
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