Kim was born on August 4, 1968, in Busan, South Korea, to mother Jung Kim and father Doo-tae Kim.[3] He moved to the United States with his family when he was one year old and grew up in New York City, and Easton and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.[4] He graduated from Freedom High School in Bethlehem in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.
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, Kim was forced to quickly relearn the language, which he had not spoken with any great frequency since high school.[12] Kim portrayed Jin-Soo until the 2010 series finale.
Throughout the show's run, Kim and 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.[13] Kim was named one of People Magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2005.[14]
In January 2016, it was announced Kim would make his Broadway debut as the King of Siam in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I from May 3 – June 26, 2016, at the Lincoln Center Theatre in New York.[19]
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, originally portrayed by Kam Fong.[20] He was the first actor to be officially cast on the show.[20] That series premiered on September 20, 2010, to strong ratings and solid critical acclaim.[21]
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.[23] It was the first time since the reboot started that the show did not feature any Asian actors in the main cast.
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.[26][27] 3AD produced the ABC television series The Good Doctor from 2017 to 2024, based on the 2013 South Korean series of the same name. He was 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.[28]
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.[29] Kim provides the voice of Chief Benja in the Disney animated film Raya and the Last Dragon, which was released in March 2021.[30]
In August and September 2023, he portrayed Francis in the Los Angeles production of Peter Pan Goes Wrong.[31]
In 2025, it was announced that Kim would serve as the host and executive producer of a documentary series on CNN International titled K-Everything, examining how South Korean pop culture spread around the world. It is set to premiere in May 2026.[33][34]
Activism
Kim has voiced concerns about Asian American discrimination in the United States.[35] 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."[36]
On June 12, 1993, Kim married Mia Rhee.[39] They have two sons who were born in 1996 and 2002.[40][41]
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.[42]
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.[43]
12"Romeo and Juliet". Internet Off-Broadway Database - Lucille Lortel Theatre. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
12345678910111213141516"Daniel Dae Kim (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 1, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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