Dustin Nguyen

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 South Vietnam. The family left Vietnam in April 1975 as it fell to Communist Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces.

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. After Nguyen graduated from Garden Grove High School in Garden Grove, CA, he attended Orange Coast College and majored in communications. Nguyen practices several martial arts including Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Eskrima, and Jeet Kune Do.

Career

He made his acting debut on Magnum, P.I., portraying a Cambodian freedom fighter in the episode "Crouching." He was a cast member on both 21 Jump Street and V.I.P., 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. 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. 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) where he plays a mentally disabled martial artist. Nguyen screened in 2009 the Thriller The Gauntlet under the Direction from Matt Eskandari and stars alongside Chinese actress star Bai Ling. He has made a small cameo in 22 Jump Street as Vietnamese Jesus as an Easter egg to his own participation as a main cast member in the original 21 Jump Street series.

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, which he also starred in. 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.

Personal life

After a car accident on September 3, 2001 late at night on California's Interstate 5 Highway between San Francisco and Los Angeles 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-American actress Thuy Trang, a member of the original cast of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He separated from his wife in 2011.

Dustin Nguyen is based in Vietnam full time. In 2011, he married Vietnamese actress-model Bebe Pham with whom he has two children.

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). 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 diVinci Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor in the Vietnamese film GENTLE; an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's A GENTLE CREATURE."