Daniel Dae Kim

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.
Daniel Dae Kim
Photo of DDK in 2021.jpg
Kim on location in 2021
Born
Kim Dae-hyun

(1968-08-04) August 4, 1968 (age 53)
Busan, South Korea
NationalityAmerican
EducationHaverford College (BA)
New York University (MFA)
OccupationActor, voice actor, producer
Years active1992–present
AgentUTA (US)
Spouse(s)
Mia Kim
​
(m. 1993)​
Children2
Korean name
Hangul
김대현
Hanja
Revised RomanizationGim Dae-hyeon
McCune–ReischauerKim Taehyŏn
Websitedanieldaekim.com

Daniel Dae Kim (born Kim Dae-hyun (Korean: 김대현); August 4, 1968)[1] is a Korean-born American actor, voice actor, and producer. He is known for his roles as Jin-Soo Kwon in Lost, Chin Ho Kelly in Hawaii Five-0, Gavin Park in Angel, and Johnny Gat in the Saints Row video game series. He also runs a production company, 3AD, which is currently producing the television series The Good Doctor. He portrayed Ben Daimio in the superhero film Hellboy (2019) and provides the voice of Chief Benja in the Disney animated film Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

Early life[]

Kim was born in Busan, South Korea, the son of mother Jung Kim and father Dr. Doo-tae Kim,[1] and moved to the United States with his family when he was one year old.[2] He grew up in New York City, Easton, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Freedom High School. In 1990, Kim graduated from Haverford College with double bachelor's degrees in theater and political science. He went on to earn an MFA from NYU's Graduate Acting Program in 1996.[1]

Career[]

On the cover of KoreAm, April 2010

After graduation, Kim made a name for himself playing numerous roles in a wide variety of television programs. He appeared in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as a treasury agent as well as episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Charmed, The Shield, Seinfeld, NYPD Blue and ER. He was a regular on the short-lived Babylon 5 spin-off Crusade and had recurring roles on Angel and 24. He also portrayed Dr. Tsi Chou in a 2008 miniseries based on the acclaimed Michael Crichton novel The Andromeda Strain.

Kim's film credits include a Shaolin monk in American Shaolin, which enabled him to showcase his skills in Tae Kwon Do. Then came a small part in Spider-Man 2 as a scientist working in Doctor Octavius' laboratory, and the 2004 drama Crash. He also had minor roles in films such as The Jackal, For Love of the Game, Hulk and The Cave.

2004–2010: Lost and mainstream prominence[]

From 2004 to 2010, Kim served as a regular cast member on the ABC series Lost in which he played Jin-Soo Kwon, a lowly Korean fisherman-turned-hitman who crashes onto a mysterious island with his wife, Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim). Since the role required him to speak exclusively in Korean, he said he was forced to quickly relearn the language, which he had not spoken with any great frequency since high school.[3] He would go on to play the character up until the 2010 series finale. Throughout the show's run, he, along with his fellow cast members, received numerous accolades, including a 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble. He was individually honored with an AZN Asian Excellence Award, a Multicultural Prism Award and a Vanguard Award from the Korean American Coalition, all for Outstanding Performance by an Actor.[4] Kim was also named one of People Magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2005.[5]

2010–2017: Hawaii Five-0[]

In February 2010, shortly after Lost's conclusion, it was announced that Kim would join the CBS reboot Hawaii Five-0 as Chin Ho Kelly, the role originally made famous by actor Kam Fong.[6] He was the first actor to be officially cast on the show.[6] That series premiered on September 20, 2010 to strong ratings and solid critical acclaim.[7] In addition to acting, Kim made his directorial debut with the Hawaii Five-0 season five episode, "Kuka'awale." He departed the show in late June 2017 prior to the eighth season due to a salary dispute with CBS. He had been seeking pay equality with co-stars Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan, but CBS would not agree to it.[8]

Kim co-starred in The Divergent Series: Insurgent, the sequel to 2014's Divergent,[9] playing Jack Kang, the leader of the Candor faction.[10]

2018–present: Producing and The Good Doctor[]

As the founder of the film and television production company 3AD, Kim in January 2014 signed a first-look development deal with CBS Television Studios, the first of its kind with an Asian-American actor.[11][12] 3AD is currently producing the ABC television series The Good Doctor, based on the 2013 South Korean series of the same name. He is an executive producer on The Good Doctor and joined the show during its second season in the role of chief of surgery, Dr. Jackson Han.[13]

In 2019, Kim played the role of Ben Daimio in the reboot film Hellboy. He replaced Ed Skrein in the role to avoid a whitewashing controversy, as the character was Asian-American in the original comics.[14] Kim provides the voice of Chief Benja in the Disney animated film Raya and the Last Dragon, which was released in March 2021.[15]

Other projects[]

Kim is the voice of the character Johnny Gat for the Saints Row video game series. He also provides the voice for Rikimaru in the game Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven. He provided the voice for Metron in the final two episodes of Justice League Unlimited.

In a return to his theater roots, Kim played the King of Siam in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I from June 12–28, 2009 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England.[16] In January 2016, it was announced Kim would make his Broadway debut as the King of Siam in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I from May 3 - June 26, 2016, at the Lincoln Center Theatre in New York.[17]

Personal life[]

Daniel Dae Kim at Comic Con, July 2006

Kim continues to split his time between Los Angeles and New York, where he lives with his wife and two sons. During the later seasons of Lost, he continued his residency after being cast in Hawaii Five-0.[18] He served as a speaker at the 2014 University of Hawaii commencement ceremony.[19]

On March 19, 2020, Kim announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19.[20][21] On March 30, 2020, Kim announced that he had recovered.[22]

Kim is also an avid collector of fine vintage watches. Some of his watches from his personal collection have been featured in some of his films.[23]

Activism[]

Kim has voiced concerns about Asian American discrimination in the United States.[24] After he tested positive for COVID-19, he spoke out against the xenophobia and racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic, stating: "Please, please stop the prejudice and senseless violence against Asian people. ... Yes, I'm Asian. And yes, I have coronavirus. But I did not get it from China, I got it in America. In New York City. Despite what certain political leaders want to call it, I don't consider the place where it's from as important as the people who are sick and dying."[25]

On February 5, 2021, Kim partnered with Daniel Wu to offer a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators of a series of attacks against elderly Asian-Americans in the Bay Area. Yahya Muslim, a suspect who was already in police custody for a separate assault was later arrested for the crimes.[26]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
1992 American Shaolin Gao Yun
1997 Addicted to Love Undergrad Assistant
The Jackal Akashi
Space Retro Teddy
1999 For Love of the Game E.R. Doctor
2001 15 Minutes Restaurant Extra
Looking for Bobby D Timmy Short film
Nate The Animals Kuong
2002 Superman Must Die Bradley
2003 Cradle 2 the Grave Visiting Expert
Hulk Aide
Ride or Die Honda Civic Driver #3 Direct-to-video
Sin Lakorn
2004 Spider-Man 2 Raymond
Crash Park
2005 The Cave Alex Kim
2008 The Onion Movie Ivy Leaguer
2011 Arena Taiga Mori/White Samurai
2013 Linsanity[27] Narrator Documentary
2015 Ktown Cowboys David
The Divergent Series: Insurgent Jack Kang
2016 The Divergent Series: Allegiant Jack Kang
2018 Mirai The young man (voice) English dub
2019 Hellboy Ben Daimio
Always Be My Maybe Brandon Choi
2020 Blast Beat Dr. Michael Onitsuka
2021 Raya and the Last Dragon Benja (voice)
Stowaway David Kim

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
1992–1993 Unsolved Mysteries Su-Ya's Brother-In-Law Recurring
2 episodes
1994 Law & Order Harry Watanabe Episode: "Golden Years"
1994 All-American Girl Stan Episode: "Ratting on Ruthie"
1995 All My Children Dr. Kim
1997 Pacific Palisades Kate's Attorney Episode: "Sweet Revenge"
1997 Night Man Roland Yates Episode: "Pilot: Part 1"
Beverly Hills, 90210 Dr. Sturla Recurring
Episodes: "Forgive and Forget" and "The Way We Weren't"
NYPD Blue Simon Lee Episode: "It Takes a Village"
1998 The Pretender Lenny Duc Episode: "Collateral Damage"
Seinfeld Student No. 1 Episode: "The Burning"
Brave New World Ingram Television film
Ally McBeal Police Officer Episode: "The Inmates"
The Practice Testifying Officer Episode: "Axe Murderer"
Party of Five Ethan Episode: "Opposites Distract"
Fantasy Island Chip Weston Episode: "Dreams"
1999 Crusade Lt. John Matheson Main
13 episodes
Walker, Texas Ranger Kahn Episode: "The Lynn Sisters"
2000 Star Trek: Voyager Astronaut – Gotana-Retz Episode: "Blink of an Eye"
Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For Everett Jang Television film
2001 Once and Again Co-Worker No. 3 Episode: "Won't Someone Please Help George Bailey Tonight"
Charmed Yenlo Episode: "Enter the Demon"
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Special Agent Beckman Episode: "Ellie"
2001–2003 Angel Gavin Park Recurring
12 episodes
2002 Any Day Now Mr. Chung Episode: "Call Him Macaroni"
2003 Momentum Agent Frears Television film
2003 Street Time Vo Nguyen Episode: "Born to Kill"
2003 Miss Match Clifford Kim Recurring
4 episodes
2003–2004 24 Tom Baker Recurring
11 episodes
2003–2004 ER Ken Sung Recurring
4 episodes
Star Trek: Enterprise Corporal Chang Recurring
Episodes: "The Xindi", "Extinction" and "Hatchery"
2004 Without a Trace Mark Hiroshi Episode: "Exposure"
The Shield Thomas Choi Episode: "Riceburner"
2004–2010 Lost Jin-Soo Kwon Main (seasons 1–6)
92 episodes
2006 Avatar: The Last Airbender General Fong (voice) Episode: "The Avatar State"
Justice League Unlimited Metron / Chinese Man(Qiaoen Qiongsi) (voices) Recurring
Episodes: "Alive!" and "Destroyer"
2007–2008 Lost: Missing Pieces Jin-Soo Kwon Miniseries
2008 The Andromeda Strain Dr. Tsi Chou Miniseries
2010–2017 Hawaii Five-0 Chin Ho Kelly Main
(seasons 1–7)
168 episodes and Director; 1 episode.
2011 G.I. Joe: Renegades Teddy Lee (voice) Episode: "The Anomaly"
2012–2014 The Legend of Korra Hiroshi Sato (voice) Recurring
7 episodes
2012 NCIS: Los Angeles Chin Ho Kelly Episode: "Touch of Death"
2013 Hollywood Game Night Himself Episode: "The One With the Friends"
2015 Once Upon a Time Drive-Thru Employee (voice) Episode: "Darkness on the Edge of Town"
2017 Big Pacific Narrator Recurring
episodes
MacGyver Chin Ho Kelly Episode: "Flashlight"
2019 The Good Doctor Dr. Jackson Han Recurring
4 episodes
Executive producer
2019–2020 She-Ra and the Princesses of Power King Micah (voice) Main
(season 5)
2020–present New Amsterdam Dr. Cassian Shin Recurring
2020 Flack Gabriel Cole Recurring
Season 2
2020 The Casagrandes Mr. Hong (voice) 2 Episodes
2021 The Hot Zone: Anthrax Matthew Ryker 6 Episodes (pre-production)[28]
TBD Pantheon David (voice) 8 episodes[29][30]

Video games[]

Year Title Role Notes
2006 24: The Game Agent Tom Baker
2006 Saints Row Johnny Gat
2006 Scarface: The World Is Yours Macau Fast Food manager
2007 Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth General Fong
2008 Saints Row 2 Johnny Gat
2010 Apache Overdose Gangstar III Mac Silver
2011 Saints Row: The Third Johnny Gat
2013 Saints Row IV Johnny Gat
2013 Apache Overdose Gangstar IV Mac Silver
2015 Saints Row: Gat out of Hell Johnny Gat [31]
2017 Agents of Mayhem Johnny Gat

Awards and nominations[]

Year Award Category Work Result Notes
2006 12th Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Lost Won [32]
2006 Asian Excellence Awards Outstanding Television Actor Won
2011 2011 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV Actor - Action Hawaii Five-0 Nominated
2012 2012 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV Actor - Action Hawaii Five-0 Nominated
2017 Asian Hall of Fame National recognition for Asian American contributions in various disciplines Won [33]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Daniel Dae Kim Biography". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2016.
  2. ^ "Daniel Dae Kim Biography ((?)-)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  3. ^ "Before They Were Lost". Lost: The Complete First Season, Buena Vista Home Entertainment. September 6, 2005. Featurette, disc 7.
  4. ^ "Hawaii Five-0 Cast: Daniel Dae Kim". CBS. CBS Interactive.
  5. ^ "2005's Sexiest Men Alive". People.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Andreeva, Nellie (February 7, 2010). "'Lost' actor joins 'Hawaii Five-O'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  7. ^ "Hawaii Five-0". Metacritic.
  8. ^ Ryan, Maureen. "Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park Exit 'Hawaii Five-0'". Variety.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  9. ^ "Daniel Dae Kim Joins Summit's 'Insurgent' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  10. ^ "'Insurgent': Daniel Dae Kim joins cast". EW.com.
  11. ^ Andreeva, Nellie. "'Hawaii Five-O' Co-Star Daniel Dae Kim Inks First-Look Deal With CBS TV Studios". Deadline Hollywood.
  12. ^ Goldberg, Lesley. "Daniel Dae Kim Inks Overall Deal With CBS Television Studios". The Hollywood Reporter.
  13. ^ "'The Good Doctor': Daniel Dae Kim Joins Medical Drama in First TV Role Since 'Hawaii Five-0' Exit". MSN. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  14. ^ Brian Davids (April 10, 2019). "Daniel Dae Kim on His 'Hellboy' Casting and Early 'Lost' Concerns". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  15. ^ Yang, Rachel (January 26, 2021). "Watch Awkwafina's Sisu in action in new Raya and the Last Dragon trailer". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  16. ^ "Mini-View: Lost's Daniel Dae Kim". Fantasy Magazine. February 11, 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  17. ^ "Daniel Dae Kim Will Make His Broadway Debut in 'The King and I'". NBC News. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  18. ^ "Daniel Dae Kim staying in Hawaii after "Lost" for new "Hawaii Five-O" series". Hawaii Magazine. February 8, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  19. ^ University of Hawaii at Manoa Spring 2014 Undergraduate Commencement Speaker - Daniel Dae Kim, retrieved March 19, 2020
  20. ^ "Actor Daniel Dae Kim tests positive for COVID-19". KITV. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  21. ^ "Daniel Dae Kim on Instagram: "Hi everyone- yesterday I was diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Looks like I'll be ok, but I wanted share my…"". Instagram. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  22. ^ Ryder, Taryn (March 30, 2020). "Daniel Dae Kim has recovered from coronavirus after 'setback': 'This disease is unlike anything I've ever experienced'". Yahoo Celebrity.
  23. ^ Clymer, Benjamin (September 17, 2019). "Talking Watches with Daniel Dae Kim". Hodinkee.
  24. ^ "Daniel Dae Kim on Coming Together to Combat Bigotry". Time. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  25. ^ "Actor Daniel Dae Kim Shares His Coronavirus Diagnosis and Calls for an End to 'Cowardly' Anti-Asian Racism". Time. March 19, 2020.
  26. ^ https://pagesix.com/2021/02/09/daniel-dae-kim-daniel-wu-offer-reward-in-attack-on-asian-man/
  27. ^ Lauer-Williams, Kathy (March 25, 2013). "Freedom's Daniel Dae Kim narrates "Linsanity"". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015.
  28. ^ Petski, Denise (January 13, 2021). "'The Hot Zone: Anthrax': Tony Goldwyn & Daniel Dae Kim To Star In Season 2 Of Nat Geo Series". Deadline. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  29. ^ Thorne, Will (August 7, 2020). "Daniel Dae Kim, Katie Chang and Scoot McNairy Board AMC Animated Drama 'Pantheon'". Variety. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  30. ^ Petski, Denise (August 7, 2020). "'Pantheon': AMC's Animated Drama Series Rounds Out Cast With Daniel Dae Kim, Katie Chang, Anika Noni Rose & More". Deadline. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  31. ^ Juba, Joe (December 11, 2014). "Get Candid with the Voice Actors of Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell – Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell". Game Informer.
  32. ^ "12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild Awards.
  33. ^ "Asian Hall of Fame Inducts 2017 Class". Northwest Asian Weekly.

External links[]

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