Chrissy Teigen and John Legend recently took their kids out for a day at the Natural History Museum. Teigen shared their experience on Instagram, describing it as “chaotic.” The post featured a series of adorable family photos from their outing.
In one picture, Chrissy is seen fixing her hair while holding their 16-month-old daughter, Esti. Another photo shows John carrying their son Wren on his shoulders, with Chrissy and Esti by his side. The family also posed together in front of a dinosaur skeleton, including their other children, Luna and Miles. Chrissy’s stylist, Alana Van Deraa, was also pictured carrying Esti during the visit. This family outing came shortly after they celebrated Miles’s birthday.
For Miles’s 6th birthday, Chrissy and John hosted a Monster Jam-themed party at the Monster Jam World Finals in SoFi Stadium. They invited 14 of Miles’s friends, who all wore matching overalls to fit the theme. The party featured a cake decorated with crushed Oreo cookies and Monster Jam trucks. Several of the couple’s celebrity friends attended, including Jessica Alba and her husband Cash Warren, along with their three children. Guests left the party with goodie bags filled with Spin Master’s Monster Jam toys.
Available for streaming on HBO Max, a unique series by Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar brings to life the 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Both the TV adaptation and the novel follow the story of an unnamed Vietnamese-French police captain, who leads a double life as a communist spy in Vietnam and Los Angeles. Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous Fall of Saigon in 1975, “The Sympathizer” explores themes of identity, politics, and allegiance with sharp wit and intense drama.
The cast includes Hoa Xunde as the enigmatic Captain, Sandra Oh as Sofia, Toan Le as the General, Fred Nguyen Khan as Bon, Duy Nguyễn as Man, Vy Le as Lana, and familiar faces like David Duchovny and John Cho in notable roles. Robert Downey Jr. serves as an executive producer and appears in various roles, from CIA agent Claude to professor Robert Hammer.
While staying true to the essence of the novel, the series introduces several changes. In both the book and the TV series, the Captain confesses his story, but the series begins differently, with the Captain writing about his journey from Vietnam to Los Angeles. The series uses a non-linear timeline, keeping viewers guessing about the Captain’s capture until the end.
In the series, the Captain’s spy activities and his complicated relationship with his friend, the Major, are highlighted. The Major, who lives with his family in L.A., is accused of being a traitor, leading to his eventual death. In the book, Bon kills the Major without assistance, whereas, in the series, the Major is shot but doesn’t die instantly, and Bon steps in to help.
The series also includes a subplot involving the General’s daughter, Lana, who joins the Captain on the set of the movie “The Hamlet.” Lana gets cast in the film and faces danger, leading the Captain to intervene. In the book, the Captain goes alone to cover the movie set.
The relationship dynamics differ between the book and the series as well. The Captain’s relationship with Sofia Mori becomes strained when he leaves for “The Hamlet” gig and she starts seeing Sonny, a Vietnamese journalist. The Captain kills Sonny to divert suspicion from himself and because of Sonny’s relationship with Sofia. In the series, Sofia eventually accuses the Captain of being a spy, while in the book, she remains unaware of his espionage activities.
In both the book and the TV series, the Captain and Bon endure harsh conditions in a brutal camp after being captured. The series introduces a twist where the Captain discovers an old friend, now an agent, who is also forced to write a confession. In the book, this reunion doesn’t happen, and the Captain faces his confession alone.
The paths to freedom also differ. In the series, the Captain and Bon escape the camp with the help of an old friend and head for a new beginning on a speedboat. In the book, their escape is less dramatic, with an officer helping them out of the camp.
Overall, the TV series “The Sympathizer” presents a captivating adaptation with some notable deviations from the novel, offering fresh twists and deepening the story’s complexity.
