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David Huynh | Award winning actor David Huynh began
his career journey into professional acting in
1998. David portrayed a boy who had a penchant
for turning into a werewolf on episodes of the vastly popular
Canadian television series, 'The Adventures of Shirley Holmes'.
Guest starring as 'Were Wolf' and stirring up the life of Shirley
Holmes, the grand niece of Sherlock Holmes, David made an impression
on the series' young audience viewers. However, acting on this
program was not David's first gig as a performer.
David's active imagination and
ability to immediately engage with people led him to register
as a theatre student in Winnipeg's renowned theatre school, The
Manitoba Theatre for Young People, (MTYP) during the spring season
of 1992. In 1993, David was invited to become a fellow actor in
the company, one of the youngest members of the MTYP to receive
an invitation. He joined the leagues of Canadian and Winnipeg
actors such as Nia Vardalos (writer and star of "My Big Fat
Greek Wedding"). Spanning a nine-year stint at MTYP, from
1993 through 2002, David had performed on stage in more than 20
productions, including notable shows such as 'The Secret Garden',
'Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang', 'Peter and the Wolf', 'The
Kiss', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'The Odyssey' and Harold Pinter's 'Night
School. In The Manitoban, the provincial's arts and culture magazine,
theatre critic Andrew Young writes, "Huynh exudes a charm
and Technicolor enthusiasm that hardly fits as any sort of failure
in any industry'." David had also performed original plays
at Fort Richmond Theatre, and musicals at The Prairie Theatre
Exchange and later on stages at the Sacred Fools Theatre and The
Actors PlayPen in Los Angeles.
David transferred his ability
as performer to director in 2001 with the short film 'Vanish',
a psychological story about a young man haunted by an ancient
artefact. 'Vanish' was selected to screen at Canada's National
Screen Institutes' Local Exposure Film Festival, and garnered
three awards, including Best Director for David Huynh in the short
film category. 2001 also marked an important year for David as
he was cast in yet another Canadian television series, '2030 C.E.'
(which at this time is heavily syndicated overseas in Europe and
in Asia where, in the latter, David is a recognizable face), and
began his post secondary education at the University of Manitoba,
majoring in Dramatic Theatre and working on a minor in Film Studies.
David kept busy performing while
studying, taking a lead role in 'Micro-Nice' a film by underground
cult filmmaker Myles Langlois. Both 'Micro-Nice' the film and
its popular subversive comic book that it is based on (created
by Langlois and his brother Drue), was produced by The Royal Art
Lodge. The Art Lodge is responsible for nurturing some of Canada's
most promising artists, including Marcel Dzama, whose drawings
can be seen on musician Beck's CD art cover of his 2005 album
'Guero'.
In 2004, David Huynh made his
Los Angeles stage debut in Joe Jordan's 'Dubya 2004' at The Sacred
Fools Theatre. There, David proved himself as a true stage actor
working along side celebrated veteran stage and film actress,
Jenette Goldstein ('Aliens', 'Titanic'). The play became an instant
hit, and was selected as a 'Los Angeles Times Critic's Choice'
theatrical production. L.A. Splash Magazine wrote, "The L.A.
Weekly called ('Dubya 2004') 'brilliant' and made it its Pick
Of The Week" and prominent theatre columnist Dave DePino
from Backstage West magazine said "Goldstein and Huynh, functioning
exclusively in the dark reaches of the tale, do fine work. Goldstein
makes a fiery hero and the disarming Huynh presents all the emotional
confusion of today's youth."
The following year, David made
an appearance in 'Mad World', a film directed by Cory Cataldo.
David played 'Chris', a junkie with an irresistible charm, and
squared off with Gary Cairns II of 'Malcolm in the Middle' and
Matthew Thompson of the indie hit 'Tru Loved'. David joined the
production of 'Little Iron Men', a Second World War film about
the 442nd Battalion, an all Japanese American company, playing
real life soldier, PVT. Onaga. The filmmakers created a spec trailer
for financing, with David portraying 'PVT. Onaga'. Currently,
the film is in pre-production, working on script changes. David
then was cast to play 'Sun Kim', a recurring character in the
heavily cult followed ABC network televised series, 'Invasion',
playing best friend to Evan Peter's 'Jesse Varon'. From the series,
David also performed together with Alexis Dziena ('Nick and Norah's
Infinite Playlist') and Screen Actor Guild award winner, William
Fichtner ('The Dark Knight').
David returned to headlining
roles, beginning with a stage production of Kenneth Lonergan's
masterpiece play about disillusioned teens in the famed, 'This
Is Our Youth'. Huynh then ventured into Melissa Yu's film, 'Afterglow',
taking on a lead role. The neo-noir romance story of young lovers
had premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and also screened
at the 2006 New York International Independent Film and Video
Festival. That same year, Huynh won the role of the titular character
of Juwan Chung's urban gangland drama, 'Baby', after beating out
more than 200 young Asian actors, including Aaron Yoo of 2007's
'Disturbia' and Justin Chon of 'Twilight'. In an interview with
director Juwan Chung on casting Huynh, Chung stated, "We
auditioned a lot of actors. We saw actors from all over Los Angeles.
We found a lot of good actors that fit the role. David was, simply,
the best actor."
While 'Afterglow' was touring
at the 2007 Swansea Film Festival in Wales and screening as an
Official Selection of the 2007 Everglades International Film Festival,
Huynh was cast as the lead guest star in CBS' 'Cold Case - Family
8108'as 'Billy Takahashi'. The television episode was produced
by Jerry Bruckheimer ('Top Gun', 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The
Curse of the Black Pearl', etc.) and helmed by French director
Jeannot Szwarc ('Jaws 2', Somewhere in Time', 'Supergirl', 'Heroes'
etc). David's appearance on 'Cold Case' prompted hysteria among
the series' fans and many flocked to internet message boards cheering
on the unusual quality the show had ended on. A statement on the
'Cold Case' Wikipedia page explains: "The episode had the
rare distinction of ending with an original monologue over top
of a song during the closing montage. The speech was performed
by actor David Huynh, playing the character of Billy Takahashi."
- Wikipedia.com "Cold Case" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Case).
In all other episodes, every narrative has ended with a musical
montage and features no dialogue. 'Cold Case - Family 8108' originally
aired 9 December 2007, again on 29 June 2008. A press release
from CBS, published on 8 January 2009, a rebroadcast of the extraordinary
episode will air on a special night, Saturday, 7 February 2009
on the network.
The 17 March 2007 marked the
date that 'Baby', the feature film starring David Huynh, premiered
at the 25th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
(SFIAAFF). The SFIAAFF is a festival that has served as an important
launching point for new works from Asia, the United States and
the Asian Diaspora by filmmakers such as Ang Lee ('Brokeback Mountain'),
M. Night Shyamalan ('The Sixth Sense'), Gurinder Chadha ('Bend
It Like Beckham'), Kayo Hatta ('Picture Bride'), Mina Shum ('Long
Life, Happiness & Prosperity'), Wong Kar-Wai ('In The Mood
For Love'), Tony Bui ('Three Seasons') and Justin Lin ('Better
Luck Tomorrow'), to name a few. 'Baby' premiered to rave reviews.
Critics and audiences alike were drawn to the gritty, dark, dramatic
film, base largely on the film's subject matter and Huynh's star
making performance. Assistant Director of the SFIAAFF, Taro Goto,
examined; "Above all, newcomer David Huynh as Baby is unforgettable,
his fierce yet lonely gaze personifying the father's metaphor
of street gangs as stray dogs: 'hungry, wild, unforgiving'."
G. Allen Johnson wrote: "A mesmerizing performance by David
Huynh in the title role and excellent support work by the rest
of the cast…" for the San Francisco Chronicle on the
Capsule Reviews from the 25th Annual San Francisco International
Asian American Film Festival, and upon the film's release, Johnson
reiterates, "Baby, of course, has trouble staying on the
straight and narrow, but Huynh brings unexpected depth to obligatory
scenes in which the young wannabe kingpin tries to reconnect with
his childhood sweetheart, his best friend and his widowed alcoholic
father." (This article appeared on page E - 5 of the San
Francisco Chronicle) and Sfist.com wrote "There are standout
performances…."
'Baby' went on to screen at
The Chicago Asian American Showcase, was the headlining film at
the 2007 Korean American Film Festival New York and at the 2007
San Diego Asian Film Festival, the festival proclaimed, "Huynh's
portrayal of Baby is one of the most memorable performances in
the film festival, one that must convey both ferocity and yet
loneliness and vulnerability. It is rare to see a film about Asian
American gang culture, even rarer to see it executed with stylized
direction and a supreme cast." David Huynh's work and star
making turn as 'Baby' was receiving critical reviews all actors
yearn for. At the 2007 Visual Communications Film Fest, the Los
Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, exhibitions and co-director
of the festival, Abraham Ferrer pens, "This altogether shocking
stuff, helped along by the uniformly stellar acting performances
headed by newcomer David Huynh as Baby. BABY, the movie, is assured,
accomplished filmmaking - and an unflattering slice of life that
is rarely, if ever, told from such a perspective." 'Baby'
was awarded two Jury Prizes from the Visual Communications' film
fest, and David Huynh was the proud recipient of the Special Jury
Prize - Emerging Actor Award. A news article recapitulation of
the festival stated, "A Special Jury Prize went to 'Baby',
directed by Juwan Chung. David Huynh, the title character of the
film, won a breakthrough performance award. In a comical moment,
the director held up a cell phone to the microphone for an impromptu
acceptance speech." The article appeared in FilmFestival.com
and was written by Mike Takeuchi.
Soon after, the film was chosen
as an official selection of the 2008 DisOrient Film Festival in
Eugene, Oregon. The festival declared "The film's acting
is top notch, especially Huynh who plays the motherless Baby."
'Baby' screened in the narrative competition, and won a Special
Jury Prize for Best Director, awarded to Juwan Chung.
'Baby' was the Asian American
Film Festival hit of the year. The film was acquired by Quantum
Releasing and bought by Xenon Entertainment and international
distributor Lionsgate Entertainment. And on 12 December 2008,
'Baby' was released to a limited theatrical run. Hyphen online
magazine says, "Props to lead actor David Huynh for bringing
a touching vulnerability to the violence of Baby's life."
Heavy weight critic, Jeff Wong of the highly respected FilmThreat.com,
writes, "Newcomer David Huynh does a good job of playing
the confused lead. Mostly playing through a tough exterior, Huynh
never lets go of the scared child that starts out the movie"
and Cheryl Eddy, the Associate Editor of Arts and Entertainment
for the San Francisco Bay Guardian affirms "…Huynh is
a solid, sympathetic performer."
Since the release of 'Baby',
the film and its star David Huynh, has attracted an enormous fan
base, including a cult following of Asian American, independent
and urban dramatic film goers, that spreads from Canada, the United
States, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Vietnam,
Japan, China and Philippines. Although 'Baby' is David Huynh's
first starring role in a feature film, it is not his last.
Next up is Mark Tran's 'All
About Dad', a comedy drama about a Vietnamese American family
in turmoil. 'All About Dad' will have its world premiere at the
19th annual Cinequest Film Festival on 28 February 2009. Tamee
Tanoor reviews, "Delightfully droll, yet mixed with great
tenderness and humanism, 'All About Dad' is the first (and probably
the funniest) story to address in depth the universal lives of
an ignored community-Vietnamese-Americans." The award winning
actor, David Huynh, is a performer and star of stage, television
and films. Already, a small buzz of David's new film, 'All About
Dad' has started to resonate, as David Huynh is proving himself
now to a comedy dramatic genre.
For more information on actor
David Huynh, please visit him at his official site at www.david-huynh.com, on MySpace at www.myspace.com/actordavidhuynh, on his fan
site at Alive Not Dead at www.alivenotdead.com/davidhuynh or search
David on the IMDB.com
or Google
him!
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