Daniel Dae Kim

Daniel Dae Kim

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Birth name: Daniel Dae Kim
Date of birth: 4 August 1968
Place of birth: Pusan, South Korea
Nickname: DDK, Danny
Height: 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
Spouse: Mia Dae Kim (December 2000 – present) 2 children

Famous Quote: “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.”

Contact Address and Autograph: Addresses and fan mail information

Daniel Dae Kim
c/o Lighthouse Entertainment
409 North Camden Drive. Suite 202
Beverly Hills, CA 90210, USA 

Biography:  Daniel Dae Kim (born August 4, 1968) is an Korean actor, perhaps best known for playing Jin-Soo Kwon on the television series Lost. A veteran of episodic television, handsome Asian-American character actor Daniel Dae Kim became a familiar face on the small screen, but he attained true television stardom despite his character’s inability to speak English–in 2004 when he was cast as the mysterious, emotional crash survivor Jin-Soo Kwok on the hit drama “Lost” (2004 – ).

Kim’s career got off to a slow start in the early 1990’s, but took off impressively after he moved to Los Angeles in 1997. Kim found work almost immediately on television and spent the next two years rapidly building up his resume on a variety of hit shows, including: “Beverly Hills, 90210” (FOX, 1990-2000), “Seinfeld” (NBC, 1990-98), “Party of Five”(FOX, 1994-2000), “Ally McBeal” (FOX, 1997-2002) and “Walker: Texas Ranger” (CBS, 1993-2001). Kim’s displayed knack for playing strong, enigmatic characters made him a favorite on the guest star circuit as a recurring player.

Kim or DDK (as most of his fans call him) was born in Busan, South Korea and moved to the United States with his family at the age of two, growing up in Easton, Pennsylvania, in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. A born gifted athlete, Kim attended Freedom High School where he played several varsity sports including football, golf, and tennis. Kim was also editor of his school newspaper and was elected student government president during his senior year. While these accomplishments reflected Kim’s successful Americanization from an early age, it did not come at the expense of his Korean heritage — Kim’s parents saw to that. Raised in a Korean-speaking household, Kim became bilingual at an early age by speaking Korean exclusively at home and speaking English at school.

Kim is a graduate of Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Haverford College in Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a dual major in political science and theatre. His theatre major was completed at the neighboring Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haverford College/Bryn Mawr College in Theatre & Political Science.
Spent a semester studying at the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut during junior year. Studied under Lynn Britt, Morris Carnovsky, Rod Marriott, and Dennis Scott. (Daniel cites Morris as one of the reasons he loves Shakespeare today.) While in New York, he performed in original comedies that he co-wrote and performed in while part of an improv group. 

Kim made his professional screen debut in 1991’s “American Shaolin”- a martial-arts themed action pic directed by Lucas Lowe. Made on the cheap and released under a host of different titles, “American Shaolin” was one of a long list of martial-arts themed action titles produced during the heydays of direct-to-video releases. Light on plot, but heavy on adrenalin, “American Shaolin” followed the familiar East-meets-West formula with Kim as Gao, an antagonistic Chinese monk with a mean kung-fu technique, but little else in terms of character.

Was “very close” to accepting positions at one of several major Wall Street investment banks before deciding to try acting full time. In 1993, started the MFA acting program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Graduated with a Masters in Acting in 96. The Tisch Acting Program is an exclusive and rigorous three-year course, accepting only 18 to 20 students each year. Among his more prestigious credits are “The Jackal” (1997), the hip-hop action thriller, “Cradle 2 the Grave” (2003), as well as the big-budget comic book epic “The Hulk” (2003). Showing an affinity for super-heroes, Kim popped up again a year later in yet another movie based on a Marvel Comics character, this time in Sam Raimi’s mega-blockbuster hit, “Spider Man 2” (2004). After moving to Los Angeles in 1997, he immediately began finding work in television and film, appearing in over twenty projects in two years. 

Prior to his casting as Jin in Lost, he was probably best known for numerous recurring roles in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. Kim’s first role as a series regular was on the short-lived science fiction series, “Crusade” (1999), a spin-off of the cult hit “Babylon 5” (Syndicated, 1994-1999), which seemed to be the breakout role Kim had been waiting for. Cast as Lt. John Matheson, the telepathic first officer of the starship Excalibur, Kim beat out several actors and became a favorite of the show’s fans. Though the series was canceled after just six episodes, it was a triumph for Kim given the fact that the role of Matheson had originally been written with a Caucasian actor in mind.

Although his character in Lost speaks mainly in Korean and has almost no ability to speak English, English is actually Daniel’s primary language and he is not fluent in Korean. He has been seen in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as a treasury agent as well as Angel, 24, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Power Rangers, Crusade,Charmed,The Shield and other shows. He also made guest appearances on Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, and ER. He also had a small part in Spider-Man 2 as a scientist working in Doctor Octavius’ laboratory. In 2004, Kim landed his biggest role yet when he joined the ensemble cast of the adventure drama “Lost” (2004- ). This time, Kim played a character whose ethnicity was undeniably Korean. As the hotheaded Jin-Soo Kwok, Kim played a controlling husband marooned with his wife, Sun (played by Yunjin Kim) on a not-so-deserted island with a dozen other survivors of a plane crash. Preparing for the role of Jin required Kim to polish up on his conversational Korean (which had since grown rusty). In his first major episode, (titled “House of the Rising Son”), Kim spoke his dialogue almost entirely in Korean.

Kim was named one of People Magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive” in 2005. Kim is the voice of the character Johnny Gat in the Xbox 360 game Saints Row. He also provided his voice for 24: The Game in which he played his character from the show, Tom Baker. He also provided the voice for Metron in the final two episodes of Justice League Unlimited.

He has said that playing “Jin” on “Lost” (2004) is a relief to him because he’s finally playing someone of his own heritage (Korean), having been cast as characters of almost every other Asian heritage but his own. Due to his childhood in America, he knew very little Korean before he did “Lost” (2004). He has said that his co-star on that show Yunjin Kim, who is fluent in both English and Korean, has been invaluable in coaching him on his Korean, which has apparently improved. Ironically, to the audience’s knowledge, Daniel’s character knows nothing but Korean.

Grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania. Earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haverford College/Bryn Mawr College in Theatre & Political Science. His acting heroes are Paul Scofield, Gene Hackman, Robert De Niro, Sidney Poitier, Gene Kelly, Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall and, his favorite, Jonathan Pryce. 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. Arrested in Honolulu on October 25, 2007 for allegedly driving drunk.

On October 25, 2007 at approximately 2:25 a.m., Kim was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Honolulu, Hawaii. Kim’s blood alcohol content was tested with a breathalyzer and measured 0.168, over twice the legal limit for driving. He publicly apologized for the incident a day later. Kim was the most recent of several Lost co-stars to be arrested for DUI, the others being Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros.

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