Daniel Dae Kim plays the role of Jin-Soo Kwon.
Background
Daniel Dae Kim grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he attended Freedom High School in Bethlehem, PA (the same high school as Dwayne Johnson - "The Rock"). He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haverford College/Bryn Mawr College in Theatre and Political Science, and later, an M.F.A. from the Graduate Acting program at New York University, where he met his wife, Mia. Their son was born in 1996.
Acting was initially a tough calling--while getting small parts in plays and writing and performing in an improv comedy group, he seriously considered a career in investment banking. Eventually, he worked his way up to recurring roles in a number of TV shows, including Angel, 24, Crusade, and Star Trek: Enterprise. He also played Dr. Octavius' lab assistant in Spider-Man 2 and was a regular on the short-lived Babylon 5 spinoff Crusade
Due to his Americanized upbringing in the States, "DDK" (as he is known to fans) actually was not fluent in Korean when Lost started filming, and co-star Yunjin Kim helped coach him on improving his language and correcting his accent for the show. Today, he is an activist for Asian-American causes, due to experiences with racism he said he underwent while growing up, and later within the acting industry.
Trivia
- He has said that playing Jin is a relief to him because he is finally playing someone of his own heritage (Korean), having been cast as characters of almost every other Asian heritage but his own.
- He, Sam Anderson, Henry Ian Cusick, John Terry and Alan Dale all appeared in 24.
- In the blooper reel for the Season 1 DVD Kim can be seen flubbing a line in Korean, and subsequently cursing in English.
- His acting heroes are Paul Scofield, Gene Hackman, Robert De Niro, Sidney Poitier, Gene Kelly, Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall and, his favorite, Jonathan Pryce.
- He was the only Asian man to be included on People Magazine's list of the sexiest men alive in 2005. Matthew McConaughey topped the list.
- He and Sam Anderson both played lawyers for the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart in the TV series Angel.
- In addition to the show 24, he has appeared on 24 The Game (along with Alan Dale).
- He did a campaign ad message against former Senator George Allen, following racist comments he made against an Asian-American.
- Voiced the character of Johnny Gats in the video game Saint's Row.
- His name in Korean is: 대니얼 대 킴
- His original Korean name is: Dae-Hyun Kim(Hangul: 김대현)
- His publicist is Cindy Guagenti. [1]
- Was the victim of a practical joke on Australian national television. Was led to believe that "have all your poo in one sock" is a popular Australian saying, and asked the hosts of the The Morning Show what it meant. The hosts then proceed to tell Kim that he was probably the victim of a practical joke.
See also
- There is an interview with Daniel in episode 16 of the Official UK Lost Podcast.
External links
- Interview - Lost Panel at the 2006 Louis Vuitton International Film Festival. Kim speaks about how he feels about representing Koreans, as a Korean-American actor.
- Daniel's MySpace Note: This is set on private, so you must added to Daniel's "friends list" to view it.
- Biography - at ABC Medianet
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