Age: 56
Birthplace: Busan, South Korea
Daniel Dae Kim (born August 4, 1968) is a South Korean-born American actor, producer, and director. Kim is best known for his roles as Jin-Soo Kwon in Lost, Chin Ho Kelly in Hawaii Five-0, and Johnny Gat in the Saints Row series of video games. He also played a recurring role on Angel.
Kim was born in Busan, South Korea, and moved to the United States with his family when he was two years old. He is now a naturalized citizen of the United States. He grew up in Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Freedom High School and Haverford College. His theater major was completed at Bryn Mawr College. He graduated from NYU's Graduate Acting Program in 1996.
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 landed recurring roles on Angel, 24 and the short-lived Babylon 5 spin-off Crusade. He also portrayed Dr. Tsi Chou in a 2008 miniseries based on the acclaimed Michael Crichton novel The Andromeda Strain.
His film credits include a small part in Spider-Man 2 as a scientist working in Doctor Octavius' laboratory, and Crash, the 2005 Best Picture Academy Award winner. He also had minor roles in films such as The Jackal, For Love of the Game, Hulk and The Cave.
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 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, Kim, along with his fellow cast members, received numerous accolades, including a 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble. Kim 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.
In February 2010, shortly after Lost's conclusion, it was announced that Kim would join the CBS reboot Hawaii Five-0 playing Chin Ho Kelly, the role originally made famous by actor Kam Fong. Kim 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. On March 13, 2014, CBS renewed the series for a fifth season.
Kim co-starred in The Divergent Series: Insurgent, the sequel to 2014's Divergent, playing Jack Kang, the leader of the Candor faction.
In addition to acting, Kim made his directorial debut with the Hawaii Five-0 Season 5 episode, "Kuka'awale"- Stakeout.
Kim is the voice of the character Johnny Gat for THQ's Saints Row video game series. He also contributed his vocal likeness for 24: The Game in which he played his character from the show, Tom Baker. 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 2014, Kim signed with South Korean talent agency SidusHQ. He is currently repped in America by Agency for the Performing Arts and Anonymous Content
In January 2016, it was announced Kim will make his Broadway debut as the King of Siam in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I for an eight-week run from May 3 - June 26, 2016, at the Lincoln Center Theatre in New York.
Kim has expanded his career to include producing. In January 2014, he signed a first look development deal with CBS Television Studios, the first of its kind with an Asian American actor. With his new production company, 3AD, he and his team are currently creating original content for both television and film.
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 children. After first moving to Hawaii during the later seasons of Lost, Kim continued his residency after being cast in Hawaii Five-0. On May 17, 2014, he served as a speaker at the 2014 University of Hawaii commencement ceremony.
Besides acting, Kim has devoted much of his time to various charities. More recently, he served as Cultural Envoy and Member of the U.S. Presidential Delegation for the United States at the World Expo in Korea.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | American Shaolin | Gao | |
1997 | Addicted to Love | Undergrad Assistant | |
1997 | Jackal, TheThe Jackal | Akashi | |
1999 | For Love of the Game | E.R. Doctor | |
2001 | Looking for Bobby D | Timmy | Short film |
2003 | Cradle 2 the Grave | Visiting Expert | |
2003 | Hulk | Aide | |
2003 | Ride or Die | Miyako | Video |
2003 | Sin | Lakorn | |
2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Raymond | |
2004 | Crash | Park | |
2005 | Cave, TheThe Cave | Alex Kim | |
2008 | Onion Movie, TheThe Onion Movie | Ivy Leaguer | |
2011 | Arena | Taiga | Video |
2013 | Linsanity | Narrator | Documentary |
2015 | The Divergent Series: Insurgent | Jack Kang | |
2016 | The Divergent Series: Allegiant | Jack Kang |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1994 | Law & Order | Harry Watanabe | Episode: "Golden Years" |
1994 | All-American Girl | Stan | Episode: "Ratting on Ruthie" |
1995 | All My Children | Dr. Kim | TV series |
1997 | Pacific Palisades | Kate's Attorney | Episode: "Sweet Revenge" |
1997 | Night Man | Roland Yates | Episode: "Pilot: Part 1" |
1997 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Dr. Sturla | Episode: "Forgive and Forget" Episode: "The Way We Weren't" |
1997 | NYPD Blue | Simon Lee | Episode: "It Takes a Village" |
1998 | Pretender, TheThe Pretender | Lenny Duc | Episode: "Collateral Damage" |
1998 | Seinfeld | Student No. 1 | Episode: "The Burning" |
1998 | Brave New World | Ingram | TV movie |
1998 | Ally McBeal | Police Officer | Episode: "The Inmates" |
1998 | Practice, TheThe Practice | Testifying Officer | Episode: "Axe Murderer" |
1998 | Party of Five | Ethan | Episode: "Opposites Distract" |
1998 | Fantasy Island | Episode: "Dreams" | |
1999 | Crusade | Lt. John Matheson | 13 episodes |
1999 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Kahn | Episode: "The Lynn Sisters" |
2000 | Star Trek: Voyager | Astronaut - Gotana-Retz | Episode: "Blink of an Eye" |
2000 | Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For | Everett Jang | TV movie |
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 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | 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 | TV movie |
2003 | Street Time | Vo Nguyen | Episode: "Born to Kill" |
2003 | Miss Match | Clifford Kim | 4 episodes |
2003-2004 | 24 | Tom Baker | 11 episodes |
2003 | ER | Ken Sung | 3 episodes |
2003-2004 | Star Trek: Enterprise | Corporal Chang | Episode: "The Xindi" Episode: "Extinction" Episode: "Hatchery" |
2004 | Without a Trace | Mark Hiroshi | Episode: "Exposure" |
2004 | ER | Ken Sung | Episode: "Abby Normal" |
2004 | Shield, TheThe Shield | Thomas Choi | Episode: "Riceburner" |
2004-2010 | Lost | Jin-Soo Kwon | 114 episodes |
2006 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | General Fong (voice) | Episode: "The Avatar State" |
2006 | Justice League | Metron / Chinese Man (voice) | Episode: "Alive!" Episode: "Destroyer" |
2007-2008 | Lost: Missing Pieces | Jin-Soo Kwon | TV miniseries |
2008 | Andromeda Strain, TheThe Andromeda Strain | Dr. Tsi Chou | TV miniseries |
2010-present | Hawaii Five-0 | Chin Ho Kelly | Main Cast |
2011 | G.I. Joe: Renegades | Teddy Lee (voice) | Episode: "The Anomaly" |
2012-2014 | Legend of Korra, TheThe Legend of Korra | Hiroshi Sato (voice) | 7 episodes |
2012 | NCIS: Los Angeles | 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 (voice) | Episode: "Darkness on the Edge of Town" |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven | Rikimaru | |
2006 | 24: The Game | Agent Tom Baker | |
2006 | Saints Row | Johnny Gat | |
2006 | Scarface: The World Is Yours | Macau Fast Food manager | |
2007 | Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth | General Fong | |
2008 | Saints Row 2 | Johnny Gat | |
2011 | Saints Row: The Third | Johnny Gat | |
2013 | Saints Row IV | Johnny Gat | |
2015 | Saints Row: Gat out of Hell | Johnny Gat |
Charities
Daniel Dae Kim supports the following charitable cause: Red Cross.