Daniel Dae Kim
Description
Daniel Dae Kim is a South Korean-born American actor with a career spanning live-action television, film, and voice acting for animated series and films. Born in Busan, South Korea, he immigrated to the United States with his family at a young age and grew up in Pennsylvania. He developed an interest in acting while attending Haverford College, where he majored in theater and political science, and later earned a Master of Fine Arts from New York University's Graduate Acting Program in 1996.
While Kim is widely recognized for his prominent live-action roles, such as Jin-Soo Kwon on the television series Lost and Chin Ho Kelly on Hawaii Five-0, he has also built a notable career as a voice actor in various animated projects. His voice work includes roles in animated series and films that are often associated with anime or produced in an anime-influenced style. One such role is in the 2018 Japanese animated film Mirai, directed by Mamoru Hosoda. In the English language version of the film, Kim provided the voice for the character of the Great-Grandfather, also credited as Young Man. His involvement in Mirai is part of a broader engagement with animation. He previously voiced the character of General Fong in a 2005 episode of the acclaimed animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He later returned to the Avatar universe, taking on the role of Hiroshi Sato, the father of Asami Sato, in multiple episodes of the sequel series, The Legend of Korra, which aired from 2012 to 2014. He also voiced the character of Chief Benja in the 2021 Disney animated film Raya and the Last Dragon. His other voice credits in animation include roles in series such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Mech Cadets, and Pantheon.
Beyond film and television, Kim has an extensive portfolio in video game voice acting, which represents a significant area of recurring work. He is perhaps best known in the gaming world for his long-standing role as Johnny Gat in the Saints Row video game series, a character he has voiced across multiple installments since the game's debut in 2006, including Saints Row 2, Saints Row: The Third, Saints Row IV, and the spin-off Agents of Mayhem. Earlier in his career, he also provided the voice for the ninja Rikimaru in the third installment of the Tenchu video game series.
Throughout his career, Kim's achievements have been recognized with several awards. For his work on Lost, he received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2006, alongside his fellow cast members. He also won individual honors such as an AZN Asian Excellence Award, a Multicultural Prism Award, and a Vanguard Award from the Korean American Coalition for his performance. In 2025, Time Magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people, and he was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame. In addition to acting, he founded the production company 3AD, which focuses on creating content that highlights underrepresented voices and produced the television series The Good Doctor.
While Kim is widely recognized for his prominent live-action roles, such as Jin-Soo Kwon on the television series Lost and Chin Ho Kelly on Hawaii Five-0, he has also built a notable career as a voice actor in various animated projects. His voice work includes roles in animated series and films that are often associated with anime or produced in an anime-influenced style. One such role is in the 2018 Japanese animated film Mirai, directed by Mamoru Hosoda. In the English language version of the film, Kim provided the voice for the character of the Great-Grandfather, also credited as Young Man. His involvement in Mirai is part of a broader engagement with animation. He previously voiced the character of General Fong in a 2005 episode of the acclaimed animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He later returned to the Avatar universe, taking on the role of Hiroshi Sato, the father of Asami Sato, in multiple episodes of the sequel series, The Legend of Korra, which aired from 2012 to 2014. He also voiced the character of Chief Benja in the 2021 Disney animated film Raya and the Last Dragon. His other voice credits in animation include roles in series such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Mech Cadets, and Pantheon.
Beyond film and television, Kim has an extensive portfolio in video game voice acting, which represents a significant area of recurring work. He is perhaps best known in the gaming world for his long-standing role as Johnny Gat in the Saints Row video game series, a character he has voiced across multiple installments since the game's debut in 2006, including Saints Row 2, Saints Row: The Third, Saints Row IV, and the spin-off Agents of Mayhem. Earlier in his career, he also provided the voice for the ninja Rikimaru in the third installment of the Tenchu video game series.
Throughout his career, Kim's achievements have been recognized with several awards. For his work on Lost, he received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2006, alongside his fellow cast members. He also won individual honors such as an AZN Asian Excellence Award, a Multicultural Prism Award, and a Vanguard Award from the Korean American Coalition for his performance. In 2025, Time Magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people, and he was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame. In addition to acting, he founded the production company 3AD, which focuses on creating content that highlights underrepresented voices and produced the television series The Good Doctor.