Daniel Dae Kim

Daniel Dae Kim (김대현) has spent three decades proving that Asian-American actors belong at the center of the story. Born in Busan, South Korea and raised in New York and Pennsylvania, Kim graduated from Haverford College and earned his MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He became a household name as Jin-Soo Kwon in Lost (2004-2010), then transitioned to Chin Ho Kelly in Hawaii Five-0 (2010-2017), making him one of the most consistently visible Asian-American actors on network television for over a decade. Beyond acting, Kim founded production company 3AD, which executive produced the hit ABC series The Good Doctor through its final season. In summer 2024, he starred in the Broadway revival of David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face, earning a nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Play at the 2025 Tony Awards -- becoming the first AAPI actor nominated in that category. He played Fire Lord Ozai in Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender and lent his voice to Sony Pictures Animation's KPop Demon Hunters (2025). Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2025. He followed with K-Everything (2026), a CNN Original Series he hosts and executive produces, exploring the cultural forces behind South Korea's global rise.