by DO LE ANHDAO

photos courtesy of DAMIEN NGUYEN

A second-generation Vietnamese American, Damien Nguyen grew up feeling trapped by Old World customs and traditions. He moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting without telling his parents. Now an emotional new film has him searching for his identity once again, and sharing the screen with some of Hollywood’s major players.

In Hans Peter Molland’s new film, The Beautiful Country, Damien Nguyen plays the title role of Bình, a social outcast in Viet Nam who is called ugly and “bui doi” (less than dust) because of his mixed race. Bình travels from Viet Nam to Malaysia to New York City, and eventually makes his way to Texas, where he is reunited with his American father.

Damien’s own experience was less traumatic. In many ways, he is a typical Gen X Vietnamese American. Damien’s parents came to the United States from Viet Nam when he was 3. Although they settled in Orange County, Damien spent most of his youth outside of Little Saigon, and had little understanding of Vietnamese culture.

Yet his passion for acting has led him to become reacquainted with his Vietnamese roots. Damien’s title role in the film The Beautiful Country gave him a chance to relearn Vietnamese, and immersed him in the daily realities of living in Viet Nam. The experience has also given him a new awareness of his evolving identity.

Despite the film’s success, and the pressures of “making it” in fickle Tinseltown, Damien, with his chiseled face and handsome good looks, remains grounded. Here, he talks to NHA about his acting career and working with some of Hollywood’s biggest names. He also shares how The Beautiful Country helped him learn some things about himself and changed his perspective on life.

NHA: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background? How did you become interested in acting? 

DN: I grew up in Orange County with six other siblings, my mom, dad, and grandmother, so it was a crowded house. I did a lot of things most kids did growing up, surfing, sports, school, partying, etc. I was attending college at Cal State Fullerton when I first discovered acting. I needed to fulfill an elective so I took a theatre class. My first choices were ceramics and drawing but those classes were closed, so it was by chance that I got involved in acting. I really felt a great connection to acting from the start, but it was only a hobby at first. I continued to take theatre classes at a local junior college (Orange Coast College). After a few more classes I realized that it was a lot more than just a hobby. So I dropped out of school, moved to Los Angeles and pursued the lifestyle of a struggling actor. I’ve been going at it for seven years now.

NHA: You recently had a lead role in The Beautiful Country, co-starring with Nick Nolte, Bai Ling, and Tim Roth. Was this your first lead role? What are some other roles you’ve played?

DN:The Beautiful Country was my first opportunity to be the lead, but hopefully not my last. Before this, I really had just bit parts here and there. I’d done a guest star spot on a TV show called 10-8 about cops on patrol, where I played a gangster. I was on an episode of Unsolved Mysterieswhere I played a man who was murdered. I had done music videos, and a lot of student films, so you could say that The Beautiful Country was my big break.

NHA: Can you give readers the premise of The Beautiful Country and describe the character that you played?

DN: The movie is about a young man named Bình who is the product of the Viet Nam War, born to an American father and a Vietnamese mother. My father in the movie disappears one day and left me with my mother. After the war, I am taken away from her as punishment for fraternizing with the enemy. I’m forced to live with a foster family that does not want me. I’m raised in a very bad environment. All I know about love is a picture that I have of my mother, father, and me as a child standing in front of a barbershop. As I come of age as a young man, I am forced to leave my foster home. So I go to the city in search of my mother. I find her in the city, and come to learn of the existence of a half brother. But trouble soon finds me in the city and I’m forced to leave again, but this time with my half brother. We find a boat to take us to America, but it ends up shipwrecked in Malaysia. We are forced into a refugee camp, where I meet my love interest played by the beautiful Bai Ling. We develop a relationship of sorts, and she  helps us to escape the camp. We find our way onto another bigger boat, which is supposed to take us to America. The boat is under the control of a deviant captain played by Tim Roth. We endure much suffering and many trials on this passage to America. When we finally arrive on American