Daniel Dae Kim
| Sci-Fi/Fantasy | |
| IMDB.com | Daniel's Website |
Daniel Dae Kim may not think of himself as a cultural ambassador,
but through his role as native Korean "Jin Kwon" on the top-rated
ABC series
"Lost" (2004), he has both
entertained and enlightened audiences since the show's
debut in 2004. Sharing a 2006 Screen
Actors Guild
Award for his ensemble work in the
acclaimed dramatic series, the Korean American actor's universal
appeal was also recognized by People magazine, which named him one
of the "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2005.
Born in Pusan, Korea and raised in New York and Pennsylvania, Daniel
graduated from Haverford College, where he received a B.A. degree.
Though briefly considering a career as an attorney, he retained his
acting focus and began his professional career with a guest role on
"Law & Order" (1990). At the same
time, he began his work on the stage, appearing in productions of
"Romeo and Juliet" and an adaptation of the
Henrik Ibsen classic, "A Doll's
House". Despite his early success however, Daniel decided to renew
his dedication to the craft by enrolling in the Graduate Acting
program at New York University, where he went on to earn an M.F.A.
The choice to go back to school proved to be worthwhile, as he began
to work immediately upon graduation. He guest starred on shows such
as
"NYPD Blue" (1993),
"Seinfeld" (1990),
"The Practice" (1997),
"Ally
McBeal" (1997),
"Star Trek: Voyager" (1995),
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
(2000),
"Without a Trace" (2002) and
"The Shield" (2002), among others.
He also created several notable recurring characters on popular
shows such as
"Angel" (1999),
"ER" (1994) and, for two seasons, as
"Agent Tom Baker" on
"24" (2001). Recently, he also began
complementing his television work by lending his voice talents to
video games, creating characters in
Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006)
(VG),
Saints Row 2 (2008) (VG),
Tenchu san (2003) (VG) and
24: The Game (2006) (VG), as well as
the animated series
"Justice League" (2001) and
"Avatar: The Last Airbender" (2005).
On the big screen, Daniel's career began in earnest with the action
film
The Jackal (1997) which led to
studio and independent films such as
For Love of the Game (1999),
Hulk (2003),
Spider-Man 2 (2004),
The Cave (2000), as well as the
Academy
Award winner for Best Picture,
Crash (2004/I). In addition to his
work on screen, Daniel remains committed to the stage, most recently
performing in a production of
Anton Chekhov's "Ivanov" in New
York. His body of work ranges from Shakespeare to Beckett to improv
comedy, and he credits his love of theater to his training at N.Y.U.
Besides his SAG
Award, in 2006 he 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.
He currently splits his time between Honolulu, Los Angeles and New
York.