Daniel Dae Kim
(born August 4, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his many roles in
network television and theater. In 2025, ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine listed him as one of
the world's 100 most influential people.
On television, he portrayed
Jin-Soo Kwon in the
ABC sci-fi action series ''
Lost'' (2004–2010) and
Chin Ho Kelly in the
CBS police procedureal ''
Hawaii Five-0'' (2010–2017). He has also taken recurring roles in ''
Angel
An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
'', ''
Star Trek: Enterprise'', ''
ER'', and ''
24''. On film, he has taken roles in ''
Hellboy'' (2019), ''
Always Be My Maybe'' (2019), ''
Raya and the Last Dragon'' (2021), and ''
Joy Ride'' (2023). He also played
Jack Kang in two of the
''Divergent'' films:
''Insurgent'' (2015), and
''Allegiant'' (2016). He runs production company
3AD, which produced the television series
''The Good Doctor''.
On stage, he starred in the revival of
David Henry Hwang's play ''
Yellow Face'' (2024) for which he was nominated for a
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He has also portrayed The King in a revival of ''
The King and I
''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...
'' in 2009 at
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
and again in
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
in 2016.
Early life and education
Kim was born on August 4, 1968, in
Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
, 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, and
Easton and
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
.
He graduated from
Freedom High School in Bethlehem in the
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...
region of eastern Pennsylvania.
In 1990, Kim graduated from
Haverford College
Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...
in
Haverford, Pennsylvania
Haverford is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, Lower Merio ...
with double
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
s in
theater
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
and
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
. While attending Haverford, he spent the 1989 spring semester studying at the
National Theater Institute at the
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. He later earned an
MFA from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
'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
''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...
'', ''
The Shield'', ''
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...
'', ''
NYPD Blue
''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...
'', and ''
ER''. He was a regular on the short-lived ''
Babylon 5
''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...
'' spin-off ''
Crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
'' and had recurring roles on ''
Angel
An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
'' and ''
24''. He also portrayed Dr. Tsi Chou in a
2008 miniseries based on the acclaimed
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author, screenwriter and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavil ...
novel ''
The Andromeda Strain
''The Andromeda Strain'' is a 1969 novel by American writer Michael Crichton, his first novel under his own name and his sixth novel overall. It documents the outbreak of a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism in Arizona and the team of scie ...
''.
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
The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible 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 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. Kim was named one of ''
People Magazine
''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''Peopl ...
's'' "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2005.
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
''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American superhero animated series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and ...
''.
Kim played the King of Siam in Rodgers & Hammerstein's ''
The King and I
''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...
'' from June 12 to 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''

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
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
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
Alex O'Loughlin (born 24 August 1976) is an Australian actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett on CBS' remake of the TV series ''Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), Hawaii Five-0'' (2010–2020). He had starri ...
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
CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount (Network) Television, as a re ...
, 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''.
Kim played the lead role in the Broadway production of ''
Yellow Face'' in 2024, becoming the first Asian American actor to be nominated for the
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
Activism
Kim has voiced concerns about
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants).
Although this term had historically been used fo ...
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
A watch is a Clock, timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another typ ...
. Some of his watches from his personal collection have been featured in some of his films.
Filmography
Film
Television
Theater
Video games
Podcasts
Documentary
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
* with ''Patrol'' magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Daniel Dae
1968 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male actors of Korean descent
American male film actors
American male musical theatre actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
Bryn Mawr College alumni
Freedom High School (Pennsylvania) alumni
Haverford College alumni
IHQ (company) artists
Living people
Male actors from Busan
Male actors from Honolulu
Male actors from Pennsylvania
People from Easton, Pennsylvania
South Korean emigrants to the United States
South Korean expatriates in the United States
Tisch School of the Arts alumni