How the creators of HBO's The Sympathizer turned the bestselling novel into a dark, comic romp for TV

Second, it's a Pulitzer Prize winner, a badge of honour that already proved a boon for similar adaptees like Spotlight, Driving Miss Daisy and Glengarry Glen Ross.

"The literary industry and the entire social and cultural system of the United States work to tempt writers of colour into writing for white people," Nguyen was quoted as telling the Guardian after his Pulitzer win in 2016.

He first got the call when his old friend and now co-creator Park Chan-wook — recalling their past experience writing a screenplay together — asked McKellar to help shoulder the burden.

That was accomplished partially by hiring Robert Downey Jr. for quadruple duty — the actor holds down four roles in a psychedelic sort of comedy that only comes together in the finale.

LISTEN | What Viet Thanh Nguyen hopes viewers take away from adaptation of his novel: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen speaks with guest host Amy Bell about the importance of refugees telling their stories, and what he hopes people will take away from the upcoming TV show The Sympathizer, based on his book and life.

Trying to take that inherently personal storytelling from the page to the screen presented more of a problem than usual, as the show grapples with a complex war told from the perspective of a man sympathizing with, and finding fault in, every element — without ever knowing where he belongs.