Daniel Dae Kim

**Daniel Dae Kim** (born Kim Dae-hyun; August 4, 1968) is an American actor and producer.

## Early Life

Kim was born in Busan, South Korea, the son of mother Jung Kim and father Dr. Doo-tae Kim, and moved to the United States with his family when he was one year old. 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 theatre and political science. He went on to earn an MFA from NYU's Graduate Acting Program in 1996.

## Career

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

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. 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 honoured 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. Kim was also named one of People Magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2005.

### 2010-2017

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. He was the first actor to be officially cast on the show. That series premiered on September 20, 2010 to strong ratings and solid critical acclaim. 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.

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

### 2018-present

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. 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.

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. Kim provides the voice of Chief Benja in the Disney animated film Raya and the Last Dragon, which was released in March 2021.

### Other Projects

Kim is the voice of the character Johnny Gat for the Saints Row video game series. He also provides the English 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 theatre 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. 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.

## Personal Life

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. He served as a speaker at the 2014 University of Hawaii commencement ceremony.

On March 19, 2020, Kim announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. On March 30, 2020, Kim announced that he had recovered.

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.

### Activism

Kim has voiced concerns about Asian American discrimination in the United States. 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."

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.