Daniel Dae Kim

Birth Name: Kim Dae-hyun

Nickname/Stage Name: Daniel Dae Kim

Birth Date: August 4, 1968

Genres: Action, Animation, Drama

Occupation(s): Actor, Voice Actor, Producer

Years Active: 1992 till Present

Net Worth: $10 million

 

Personal Life

Daniel Dae Kim was born in Busan, South Korea. He moved to the U.S. with his family when he was a year old and grew up in New York City.  

He has a wife and two sons and they have a home in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Education

Kim attended Freedom High School and graduated from Haverford College with double Bachelor's degrees in Theater and Political Science in 1990. 

He subsequently earned an MFA from NYU's Graduate Acting Program in 1996.

Career

The actor made a name for himself after graduation by taking on several roles in a variety of TV programs. He appeared in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Star Trek: Voyager, NYPD Blue, and ER.

His film credits include a Shaolin monk in American Shaolin (1992), a scientist working for Doctor Octavius in Spider-Man 2 (2004), and the 2004 drama Crash.

From 2004 to 2010, Kim was a regular cast member of the ABC series Lost. He played the character of Jin-Soon Kwon until the series finale in 2010.

Awards

Screen Actors Guild Award (2006)

Asian Excellence Award (2006)

Asian Hall of Fame (2017)

Quotes

[On his love for 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 the film or TV, you have to create that arc in little pieces, and usually out of sequence."

Trivia

Has two sons, Zander and Jackson.

Considered a career in investment banking at the onset of his career.

Attended the same high school as Dwayne Johnson

Movies

The Jackal (1997)

Cradle 2 the Grave (2002)

The Cave (2005)

The Onion Movie (2008)

Hellboy (2018)

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)