Daniel Dae Kim
Daniel Dae Kim is an 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 series of video games. He also runs a production company called 3AD, which is currently producing the television series The Good Doctor.
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 a 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 theater 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 ' as a treasury agent as well as episodes of ', , 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. 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 was also named one of People Magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2005.2010–2017: ''Hawaii Five-0''
In February 2010, shortly after LostKim co-starred in , 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.Other projects
Kim is the voice of the character Johnny Gat for THQ's 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. 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
Though Kim continues to split his time between Los Angeles and New York, he spends the majority of his year in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he lives with his wife and two sons. After first moving to Hawaii 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. He also spoke out against the racism related to the 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 March 30, 2020, Kim announced that he had recovered.
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" |
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" |
1997 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Dr. Sturla | Episodes: "Forgive and Forget" and "The Way We Weren't" |
1997 | NYPD Blue | Simon Lee | Episode: "It Takes a Village" |
1998 | ' | Lenny Duc | Episode: "Collateral Damage" |
1998 | Seinfeld | Student No. 1 | Episode: "The Burning" |
1998 | Brave New World | Ingram | Television film |
1998 | Ally McBeal | Police Officer | Episode: "The Inmates" |
1998 | ' | Testifying Officer | Episode: "Axe Murderer" |
1998 | Party of Five | Ethan | Episode: "Opposites Distract" |
1998 | Fantasy Island | Chip Weston | Episode: "Dreams" |
1999 | Crusade | Lt. John Matheson | 13 episodes |
1999 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Kahn | Episode: "The Lynn Sisters" |
2000 | ' | Astronaut – Gotana-Retz | Episode: "Blink of an Eye |Blink of an Eye" |
2000 | 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" |
2001 | Charmed | Yenlo | Episode: "Enter the Demon" |
2001 | ' | Special Agent Beckman | Episode: "Ellie" |
2001–2003 | Angel | Gavin Park | 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 | 4 episodes |
2003–2004 | 24 | Tom Baker | 11 episodes |
2003–2004 | ER | Ken Sung | 4 episodes |
2003–2004 | ' | Corporal Chang | Episodes: "The Xindi", "Extinction |Extinction" and "Hatchery |Hatchery" |
2004 | Without a Trace | Mark Hiroshi | Episode: "Exposure" |
2004 | ' | Thomas Choi | Episode: "Riceburner" |
2004–2010 | Lost | Jin-Soo Kwon | 92 episodes |
2006 | ' | General Fong | Episode: "The Avatar State" |
2006 | Justice League Unlimited | Metron / Chinese Man | Episodes: "Alive!" and "Destroyer" |
2007–2008 | ' | Jin-Soo Kwon | Miniseries |
2008 | ' | Dr. Tsi Chou | Miniseries |
2010–2017 | Hawaii Five-0 | Chin Ho Kelly | 168 episodes and Director; 1 episode. |
2011 | ' | Teddy Lee | Episode: "The Anomaly" |
2012–2014 | ' | Hiroshi Sato | 7 episodes |
2012 | ' | 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 | Episode: "Darkness on the Edge of Town" |
2017 | Big Pacific | Narrator | episodes |
2017 | MacGyver | Chin Ho Kelly | Episode: "Flashlight" |
2019 | The Good Doctor | Dr. Jackson Han | 4 episodes Executive producer |
2019-2020 | She-Ra and the Princesses of Power | King Micah | |
2020 | New Amsterdam | Dr. Cassian Shin | |
2020 | Flack | Scott Cole | Season 2 |
Video games
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 | ||
2006 | Asian Excellence Awards | Outstanding Television Actor | Lost | ||
2011 | 2011 Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actor - Action | Hawaii Five-0 | ||
2012 | 2012 Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actor - Action | Hawaii Five-0 |