Daniel Dae Kim

Daniel Dae Kim

Actor
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Life Story

Daniel Dae Kim has made a career of creating multifaceted and stereotype-breaking roles as an actor, director and now, producer. Prior to his seven-season portrayal of Chin Ho Kelly on "Hawaii Five-0," Kim was best known for his role as Jin Soo Kwon on the hit TV series "Lost," for which he shared a 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble, and 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. In 2009, he was recognized with the prestigious KoreAm Achievement Award in the field of Arts and Entertainment, and has twice been named one of "People" Magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive."

Most recently, he received a Broadway Beacon Award for his role as the King of Siam in Lincoln Center's Tony Award-winning production of "The King and I," as well as the Theater Legacy Award from New York's Pan Asian Repertory Theater. Outside of his artistic endeavors, he actively pursues interests in the community at large, having most recently served as Cultural Envoy and Member of the U.S. Presidential Delegation for the United States at the World Expo in Korea.

Born in Busan, South Korea, and raised in New York and Pennsylvania, Kim discovered acting while a student at Haverford College. After graduation, he moved to New York City, where he began his career on stage, performing in classics such as "Romeo and Juliet," "Ivanov," and "A Doll's House." Despite early success, he deepened his knowledge of the craft by enrolling at New York University's Graduate Acting Program, where he earned his Master's Degree.

Family

Mia Haeyoung Rhee (12 June 1993 - present) ( 2 children)

Trivia

He holds an M.F.A. from the Graduate Acting program at New York University.
Son born in 1996.
Grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haverford College/Bryn Mawr College in Theatre & Political Science.
While getting small parts in plays and writing and performing in an improv comedy group, he seriously considered a career in investment banking.
He attended Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the same high school as Dwayne Johnson.
He was included on People Magazine's list of the sexiest men alive in 2005. Matthew McConaughey topped the list.
Being chosen for the part of Jin Kwon on Lost (2004) meant that he had to relearn speaking Korean very fast, a language he hadn't effectively spoken since his childhood.

Personal Quotes 

[on why he loves theater] There's something about being in a house with an audience, and having that immediate feedback. I started acting because of that energy; it's what feeds me on stage and informs my choices. What's great in theater is that you can sustain the arc of a character for a full three hours, whereas in film or TV, you have to create that arc in little pieces, and usually out of sequence.
[on leaving Hawaii Five-O] As an Asian American actor, I know first-hand how difficult it is to find opportunities at all, let alone play a well developed, three dimensional character like Chin Ho. I will miss him sincerely. What made him even more special is that he was a representative of a place my family and I so dearly love. It has been nothing short of an honor to be able to showcase the beauty and people of Hawaii every week, and I couldn't be prouder to call these islands home

Filmography

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