Though he has been a frequent visitor to Visual Communications events through the years, lately actor Dustin Nguyen has been a decidedly international man. First it was jeans commercials, first shot about the time he completed shooting Eric Koyanagi's 1998 feature HUNDRED PERCENT. Shortly after, a well-regarded turn in the Australian feature LITTLE FISH. And more recently, a double-shot starring in two Vietnamese-produced features: the award-winning THE REBEL, and the crowd-pleaser SAIGON ECLIPSE. While Dustin's acting career may not have exploded with the kind of "bang" characterized by the likes of Jason Scott Lee (DRAGON: THE BRUCE LEE STORY), it has proved to be both steady and sturdy, insuring not only his growth as an actor, but that he remain in the public eye long after the 1980s heat of his breakout role as Det. Ioki in the television drama 21 JUMP STREET. Definitely, Dustin Nguyen is wearing the mantle of "international movie star" quite well, thank you.

In this short interview conducted shortly after the DVD release of THE REBEL, Dustin Nguyen talks about the challenges of going back to Vietnam to shoot an in-language feature, working with a cast of matinee idols equal in stature to his own, and of collaborating with his friends and colleagues, brothers Charlie and Johnny Tri Nguyen.

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So Dustin, I know that THE REBEL represents a decided about-face from your past onscreen portrayals. How did the role of Sy come to your attention, and what attracted you to committing to playing this character?

I've been casual friends with brothers Johnny Tri Nguyen and Charlie Nguyen for a few years. I had just gotten back from doing LITTLE FISH and got a call from Johnny; I found out he's been living in Vietnam for a few years and he and Charlie had started a production company there and was about to do their first film – THE REBEL. They sent me the script and I was very excited about the potential of the film, and of course, the possibility of playing my first villain. I had hopes that Sy can be that rare three-dimensional character that an audience can relate to. This was a very rare opportunity in Hollywood for an Asian American actor to find. I never get offers to play the villain in films. I was also motivated by the excitement of doing my first Vietnamese language film. And lastly, I was excited by the chance to work with my friends and people I like.

Tell us about going back to Vietnam to shoot THE REBEL. What was the experience like?

After a month of rehearsal and getting to know the cast and crew in Vietnam, I felt very at home and creatively happy, which is very rare because we haven't even started shooting yet. And certainly, I had no way of knowing what kind of a shoot we were about to get into. It turned out to be a difficult shoot due to the logistical challenges involved with making a sweeping action-period drama on a very limited budget. I felt a sense of creative freedom with Charlie as the director. We collaborated very well, and I felt very connected to the country and the people during our interaction with various people we met on our many diverse locations. I remember thinking, ‘This is how movies should be made.'

As it turned out, you had not one, but two starring roles lined up when you went to shoot THE REBEL [Dustin also starred in SAIGON ECLIPSE, which lensed at about the same time as THE REBEL — ed.]. What challenges were there in doing two completely different roles back-to-back?

I never had time to think about that much, I suppose. I had just wrapped THE REBEL, flew back to Saigon from the northern part of Vietnam, took two days to dye my hair back to normal, and jumped right into rehearsal for SAIGON ECLIPSE. I think the adrenaline carried me through it, Of course, SAIGON ECLIPSE was a walk in the park compared to the four months in the "wilderness" of THE REBEL! I was put up in a 5-star hotel, Saigon has all the modern conveniences... Although I already had the script in hand for SAIGON ECLIPSE and had started my preparation while I was finishing THE REBEL, I was just thrilled to be making two movies back-to-back, in the country where I was born.

Your character Sy is a corrupt government agent for the French, and I think, involved with some kind of black magic. But the character is much more complicated than being simply a villain, right?

As excited as I was to play my first ‘villain,' I was very clear with Charlie that I did not want to make Sy a villain. What I mean is, I was only interested in why and how Sy operates, what were his ambitions and why he was so ambitious. Even though he works for the French, he is at heart a Nationalist and has what, he thinks, is best for Vietnam. I was him as a very tragic character, in some humble way, I wanted to give him a bit of a Greek Tragedy feel. I had hopes that the audience would see that he is, not unlike the rest of us, ambitious and ruthless because he wanted to be validated for his shortcomings.

Your on-screen interactions with Johnny Tri Nguyen and Ngo Thanh Van were, in my opinion, electrifying. Could you comment on what it was like working with them both? What challenges were there in making the characters and their conflicts mesh with the story?

Johnny is a gentlemen through and through, not to mention a very gifted martial artist and a potential action star in the right environment. He certainly has proven that with THE REBEL as a vehicle.

Van is a lovely, inexperienced actress at the time of THE REBEL, but, she made up for it with a natural charisma and an instinct to tell the truth with her acting. She doesn't force it like most actresses in Vietnam. I also want to say that not all actresses in Vietnam are bad actors, just in general they have not had the proper training to hone their crafts.

I believe that whatever challenges we had with our characters and their conflicts were alleviated by Charlie's storytelling and direction. He was very keen on keeping the characters as real as possible in this action genre.

How has the reaction been so far to THE REBEL and, in particular, to your performance in the film?

I'm very curious to see how THE REBEL will be received by a broader audience now that it's on DVD in North America. So far, it has been the bench mark in Vietnam, and all the film festivals we have been to, the audience is on their feet. I'm also very pleased that Sy has developed a bit of a following in Vietnam. People really responded to him on a level that I had hoped for. The consensus is that there has never been a villain in a film where the people actually loved and talked about afterwards, someone real and tragic.

And finally, we know you're a busy man. What's on your place these days in terms of acting assignments, and what hopes do you have for THE REBEL's DVD release?

I hope that THE REBEL DVD will sell like crazy and make people realize that Vietnamese cinema is worth looking into, and is it. The days of Vietnam war-related films are over, certainly if I can help it. I'm continuing to develop projects with Johnny and his team in Vietnam. We are working THE REBEL 2, it's in the script-stage; and a romantic comedy in the works. I also have a film coming out next year from Vietnam called THE LEGEND IS ALIVE. It's another action/drama set in contemporary time. I play a guy who was born a victim of Agent Orange and as a result, has the mental capacity of a ten-year old. He goes on a road trip after his surrogate mom died and meets all these characters along the way. It's really a film about the unconditional love of mothers.

For more on THE REBEL and director Charlie Nguyen, visit the VAALA website << www.vaala.org >>, and the official movie website << www.therebelmovie.com >>