Dustin Nguyen

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This article is about the actor. For the comic book artist, see Dustin Nguyen (comics).

Dustin Nguyen
Dustin Nguyen 22072007 BKKIFF.jpg
Nguyen at the 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival.
Born
Nguyễn Xuân Trí

(1962-09-17) September 17, 1962 (age 58)
Saigon, South Vietnam
OccupationActor, director, writer, martial artist
Years active1985–present
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 2001; div. 2012)​

​
(m. 2012)​

Dustin Nguyen (born September 17, 1962) is an Vietnamese-American actor, director, writer, and martial artist. He is best known for his roles as Harry Truman Ioki on 21 Jump Street, and as Johnny Loh on VIP[1] In films, he is known for starring in Little Fish, The Doom Generation and The Rebel.[2]

Early life[]

Born as Nguyễn Xuân Trí in Saigon, South Vietnam, his mother My Le, was an actress and dancer, and his father, Xuan Phat, was an actor, comedian, writer, and producer in Vietnam.[3] The family left Vietnam in April 1975 as it fell to Communist Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces.[4]

They arrived in Guam, then the family was moved to a refugee camp in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, and finally with the assistance of a Methodist church they relocated to Des Peres, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.[4][5] After Nguyen graduated from Garden Grove High School in Garden Grove, CA, he attended Orange Coast College[1] and majored in communications. Nguyen practices several martial arts including Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Eskrima, and Jeet Kune Do.[4]

Career[]

He made his acting debut on Magnum, P.I., portraying a Cambodian freedom fighter in the episode "All For One." He was a cast member 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 played 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.[6] 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.[7] 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)[8] 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.[9]

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 recently starred in the Vietnamese film Gentle that premiered at the 2015 Busan International Film Festival where he received strong reception for his performance.[10]

He was cast in Cinemax's Warrior in a recurring role before he officially joined the main cast in season two of the series.[11]

Personal life[]

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 that left his wife (Angela Rockwood-Nguyen) a quadriplegic, Nguyen and his wife became active in The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center. That accident also claimed the life of Vietnamese actress Thuy Trang, a member of the original cast of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He and Rockwood divorced in 2011.

Dustin Nguyen is based in Vietnam full-time. In 2011, he married Vietnamese actress-model Bebe Pham with whom he has two daughters, Sky (b. 2013) and Scarlett (b. 2015).[12]

He is fluent in English in addition to his native Vietnamese.

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
1985 Chinese Youth
1991 Earth Angel Peter
1992 Rapid Fire Paul Yang
1993 Tommy Cuff
1993 Heaven & Earth Sau
1994 3 Ninjas Kick Back Glam
1994 Vanishing Son II Hung
1994 Vanishing Son IV Hung
1995 Virtuosity Suburban Reporter
1995 The Doom Generation Quickiemart Clerk
1998 Isaac
2003 The Break
2005 Little Fish Jonny Actor
2007 Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee Troy Poon
2007 Saigon Eclipse Kim
2007 The Rebel Sy Actor
2009 Long Actor
2010  [vi] Dung
2010 Floating Lives Vo Actor
2011 Jin-Soo
2011 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
2015 Jackpot Tu Nghia Director/Actor
2015 Zero Tolerance Johnny Actor
2015 Gentle Thien Actor
2016 I'll Wait Director
2017 Voodoo Doll Hung Actor

Television[]

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"
1987–90 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"
1992 Street Justice Episode: "Bad Choices"
1992 Highlander Chu Lin Episode: "The Road Not Taken"
1993 Murder, She Wrote David Kuan Episode: "A Death in Hong Kong"
1993 Highlander Jimmy Sang Episode: "Revenge of the Sword"
1993 SeaQuest DSV Chief William Shan 4 episodes
1994–96 Phantom 2040 Tranh 5 episodes
1995 Vanishing Son Hung Episode: "Single Flame"
1995 VR.5 Ky Buchanan Episode: "Simon's Choice"
1995 Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Lo Gee Episode: "Flying Fists of Fury II"
1997 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"
2012 The Amazing Race Vietnam host Season 1
2018 This Is Us Bao Episode: "Sometimes"
2019–present Warrior[13] Zing Recurring (season 1); Main role (season 2)

Producer[]

  • The Amazing Race Vietnam (2012) – Himself
  • 2007 AZN Asian Excellence Awards (2007) – Himself
  • "E! True Hollywood Story" – Himself (1 episode, 2004)
  • "Howard Stern" – Himself (4 episodes, 1999)
  • "The Howard Stern Radio Show" – Himself (2 episodes, 1999)
  • "Intimate Portrait" – Himself (1 episode)

In production[]

  • CinemAbility (2011) (filming) – Himself
  • The Slanted Screen (2006) – Himself

Awards[]

In March 2009, he 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).[14][15] For the same role, that year he won a Golden Lotus Award (Vietnam's Oscar) for Best Actor. And also 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[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: 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.
  2. ^ "dustin nguyen 21 jump street star on life in vietnam". People.
  3. ^ Knutzen, Eirik (July 4, 1987). "One Jump ahead". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Chen, Vivien Lou (May 1, 1992). "Jobless Actor Rejects Asian Stereotypes Series". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Dustin Nguyen: A Man Ahead of His Time, Nov 22, 2019
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "'21 Jump Street' veteran plays Vietnamese Jesus Christ in big-screen sequel". United Press International. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  10. ^ Brown, Todd (January 23, 2015). "GENTLE: Watch Dustin Nguyen In Vietnamese Dostoyevsky Adaptation". ScreenAnarchy. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ "Dustin Nguyen: 21 Jump Street Star on Life in Vietnam". People. February 25, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  13. ^ "Perry Yung on Instagram: "#dustinnguyen in da house! It's getting hot in here now. #hbo #CinemaxWarrior"". Instagram. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  14. ^ Brown, Todd (March 3, 2009). "Dustin Nguyen Star Vehicle THE LEGEND IS ALIVE Dominates The Vietnamese Golden Kite Awards". ScreenAnarchy. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  15. ^ "culture vulture". vnagency.com. December 24, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2012.

External links[]

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