Daniel Dae Kim facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Daniel Dae Kim
Kim in 2021
Born	Kim Dae-hyun (1968-08-04) August 4, 1968 (age 56) Busan, South Korea
Citizenship	United States
Education	Haverford College (BA) New York University (MFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1992–present
Spouse(s)	Mia Rhee ​ (m. 1993)​
Children	2
Korean name
Hangul	김대현
Hanja	金大賢
Revised Romanization	Gim Dae-hyeon
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Taehyŏn

Daniel Dae Kim (born August 4, 1968) is an American actor. He portrayed Jin-Soo Kwon in Lost, Chin Ho Kelly in Hawaii Five-0, Gavin Park in Angel, and Ben Daimio in Hellboy. He also provided the voice of Chief Benja in the animated film Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) and Johnny Gat in the Saints Row video game series. He runs production company 3AD, which produced the television series The Good Doctor.

Early life and education

Kim was born on August 4, 1968, in Busan, South Korea, to mother Jung Kim and father Doo-tae Kim. He moved to the United States with his family when he was one year old and grew up in New York City, Easton, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Freedom High School in Bethlehem in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.

In 1990, Kim graduated from Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania with double bachelor's degrees in theater and political science. While attending Haverford, he spent the 1989 spring semester studying at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. He went on to earn an MFA from New York University'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 (1992), which enabled him to showcase his skills in Tae Kwon Do. Then came a small part in Spider-Man 2 (2004) as a scientist working in Doctor Octavius' laboratory, and the drama Crash (2004). He also had minor roles in films such as The Jackal (1997), For Love of the Game (1999), Hulk (2003), and The Cave (2005).

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. 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. .....

Kim at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2006

Kim provided the voice of the character Johnny Gat for the Saints Row video game series, which debuted in 2006. That same year, Kim provided the voice for Metron in the final two episodes of Justice League Unlimited.

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.

2010–2017: Hawaii Five-0

Kim on the cover of the April 2010 KoreAm

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.

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

Kim made his directorial debut with the Hawaii Five-0 season five episode "Kuka'awale". He departed the show together with Grace Park, the female lead, in late June 2017 prior to the eighth season due to a salary dispute with CBS. They had been seeking pay equality with co-stars Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan, but CBS would not agree to it. It was the first time since the reboot started that the show did not feature any Asian actors in the main cast.

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: 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. 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.

In August and September 2023, he portrayed Francis in the Los Angeles production of Peter Pan Goes Wrong.

Activism

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

Prior to the 2022 runoff election in Georgia, Kim tweeted about state laws that make it challenging for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to establish their eligibility to vote, citing VoteRiders as a resource for more information about valid voter ID.

Personal life

On June 12, 1993, Kim married Mia Rhee. They have two sons who were born in 1996 and 2002.

During production of Lost, Kim and his family split their residency between Los Angeles and Hawaii. He continued his residency in Hawaii after being cast in Hawaii Five-0.

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

Filmography

Film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992–1993	Unsolved Mysteries	Su-Ya's Brother-In-Law	2 episodes
1994	Law & Order	Harry Watanabe	Episode: "Golden Years"
	All-American Girl	Stan	Episode: "Ratting on Ruthie"
1995	All My Children	Dr. Kim	Episode #1.6501
1997	Pacific Palisades	Kate's Attorney	Episode: "Sweet Revenge"
	Night Man	Roland Yates	Episode: "Pilot: Part 1"
	Beverly Hills, 90210	Dr. Sturla	Recurring cast: season 8
	NYPD Blue	Simon Lee	Episode: "It Takes a Village"
1998	Pretender, TheThe Pretender	Lenny Duc	Episode: "Collateral Damage"
	Seinfeld	Student No. 1	Episode: "The Burning"
	Brave New World	Ingram	Television film
	Practice, TheThe Practice	Testifying Officer	Episode: "Axe Murderer"
	Ally McBeal	Police Officer	Episode: "The Inmates"
	Fantasy Island	Chip Weston	Episode: "Dreams"
1999	Crusade	Lt. John Matheson	Main cast
	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 #3	Episode: "Won't Someone Please Help George Bailey Tonight"
	Charmed	Yen Lo	Episode: "Enter the Demon"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Special Agent Beckman	Episode: "Ellie"
2001–2003	Angel	Gavin Park	Guest: season 2, recurring cast: season 3-4
2002	Any Day Now	Mr. Chung	Episode: "Call Him Macaroni"
2003	Street Time	Vo Nguyen	Episode: "Born to Kill"
	Miss Match	Clifford Kim	Recurring cast
	Momentum	Agent Frears	Television film
2003–2004	Star Trek: Enterprise	Corporal Chang	Recurring cast: season 3
	ER	Ken Sung	Recurring cast: season 10
	24	Tom Baker	Recurring cast: season 2-3
2004	Without a Trace	Mark Hiroshi	Episode: "Exposure"
	Shield, TheThe Shield	Thomas Choi	Episode: "Riceburner"
2004–2010	Lost	Jin-Soo Kwon	Main cast
2006	Avatar: The Last Airbender	General Fong (voice)	Episode: "The Avatar State"
	Justice League Unlimited	Metron (voice)	2 episodes
2007	AZN Asian Excellence Awards	Himself/Host	Main host
2007–2008	Lost: Missing Pieces	Jin-Soo Kwon	Recurring cast
2008	Andromeda Strain, TheThe Andromeda Strain	Dr. Tsi Chou	Main cast
2009	Ace of Cakes	Himself	Episode: "Lost in Hawaii"
2010–2017	Hawaii Five-0	Chin Ho Kelly	Main cast: season 1-7
2011	CBS Cares	Himself	Episode: "2011"
	G.I. Joe: Renegades	Teddy Lee (voice)	Episode: "The Anomaly"
2012	Iron Chef America	Himself	Episode: "Military Grill Battle: Big Eye Tuna"
	NCIS: Los Angeles	Chin Ho Kelly	Episode: "Touch of Death"
2012–2014	Legend of Korra, TheThe Legend of Korra	Hiroshi Sato (voice)	Recurring cast: season 1 & 4
2013	Hollywood Game Night	Himself/Panelist	Episode: "The One With the Friends"
2015	Once Upon a Time	Fast Food Worker (voice)	Episode: "Darkness on the Edge of Town"
2017	Big Pacific	Himself/Narrator	Recurring narrator
	MacGyver	Chin Ho Kelly	Episode: "Flashlight"
2019	Drop the Mic	Himself	Episode #3.2
	Family Style	Himself	Episode: "Family"
	The Good Doctor	Dr. Jackson Han	Recurring cast: season 2; also executive producer
2019–2020	She-Ra and the Princesses of Power	King Micah (voice)	Guest: season 3, recurring cast: season 4-5
2020	Asian Americans	Himself/Narrator	Recurring narrator
	Flack	Gabriel Cole	Recurring cast: season 2
2020–2021	The Casagrandes	Mr. Hong (voice)	Guest: season 1, recurring cast: season 2
2020–2023	New Amsterdam	Dr. Cassian Shin	Guest: season 2 & 5, recurring cast: season 3
2021	Dramaworld	Doug	Main cast: season 2
	The Premise	Daniel Jung	Episode: "Butt Plug"
	The Hot Zone	Matthew Ryker	Main cast: season 2
2022	Roar	Harry	Episode: "The Woman Who Was Kept on a Shelf"
2022–2023	Pantheon	David Kim (voice)	Main cast
2023	Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.	Max Lee	Episode: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Doctor"
	Star Wars: Visions	Bichan (voice)	Episode: "Journey to the Dark Head"
	Mech Cadets	General Aiden Park (voice)	Main cast
2024	Avatar: The Last Airbender	Fire Lord Ozai	Main cast
TBA	Butterfly	David Jung	Also producer; pre-production

Key

Denotes television series that have not yet been released

Video games

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Company	Notes
1991	Romeo and Juliet	Paris	New Victory Theater	Theatre for a New Audience
1991	A Doll’s House	Torvald	Pan Asian Repertory Theatre	-
1995	School for Wives	Horace	Vineyard 26th Street Theatre	National Asian American Theatre Company
1996	The Chang Fragments	Bruce	Joseph Papp Public Theater	The Public Theater
2000	Golden Child	Eng Tien-Bin	David Henry Hwang Theater	East West Players
2002	The Tempest	Prospero	David Henry Hwang Theater	East West Players
2005	Ivanov	Dr. Lvov	Bernie West Theatre/Baruch Performing Arts Center	National Asian American Theatre Company
2009	The King and I	The King	Royal Albert Hall	-
2016	The King and I	The King	Vivian Beaumont Theater	Lincoln Center Theater
2020	Belly of the Beast	Alex	3AD	New York Theater Workshop/TodayTix
2023	Peter Pan Goes Wrong	Francis	Ahmanson Theatre/Ethel Barrymore Theatre	Mischief Theatre
2024	Yellow Face	David Henry Hwang (DHH)	Todd Haimes Theatre	Roundabout Theatre Company

Key

Denotes plays that have not yet premiered

Podcasts

Documentary

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Daniel Dae Kim para niños