AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Actor Daniel Dae Kim is no stranger to action sequences or to doing his own stunts.
(SOUNDBITE OF ACTORS FIGHTING)
CHANG: And now he's doing fight scenes in street markets and train stations all over South Korea in a new series called "Butterfly."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BUTTERFLY")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, yelling).
CHANG: It's out today on Prime Video, which we should note is a financial supporter of NPR. And we will also note this interview contains a racial slur. In "Butterfly," Kim plays David Jung, a former U.S. intelligence operative who returns to finish one last personal mission - to reunite with his daughter.
DANIEL DAE KIM: (As David Jung) She's working for them, Eunju, as an assassin.
CHANG: The series is based on a graphic novel published by Boom! Studios. And Kim says he was instantly drawn to the story when he met with the head of the comic book publisher.
KIM: We talked about a few of them. And he lifted up "Butterfly" and he said, well, this is interesting because it's in the spy, action genre. But it's centered on father and a daughter, who were white Americans.
CHANG: Oh.
KIM: And the story took place in Europe. And I asked him if he would be OK with us changing to an Asian American family...
CHANG: Totally.
KIM: ...And setting it in Korea. And to his credit and the author's credit, they both said yes and said let's go.
CHANG: What was it like for you to go back to South Korea, where you were born, to film an entire show?
KIM: It had always been a goal of mine in my career because so many of my relatives still live in South Korea. And some of them had been hearing about my career in America. But Korea, as most of us know, has a very hardy, thriving industry domestically.
CHANG: Yes, yes.
KIM: And so, you know, what Korean Americans are doing is not necessarily making headlines, so...
CHANG: Oh, so funny. You're not, like, that super cool inside South Korea...
KIM: No, I mean...
CHANG: ...Compared to the way you are in America.
(LAUGHTER)
KIM: I would argue that I'm not cool either place but thank you for saying so.
CHANG: (Laughter).
KIM: But yeah, so to go back to shoot in Korea and, you know, feel the connections I have to my heritage and literally have my relatives come out to set in their neighborhoods...
CHANG: Oh.
KIM: ...Was really special and something that I just have a lot of gratitude for, because though I'd set it as a goal, I never thought that I would practically be able to achieve it. And there we were, for six months, shooting in over 20 cities in Korea.
CHANG: Also, can we talk about the physicality? Like, there is so much intense action on the show. And as I was watching, I was like, this guy is 57 years old. You are clearly doing most of your own stunts. You're kicking so much a**, and you actually look believable doing it, Daniel.
(LAUGHTER)
KIM: Well, thank you. That's very gracious of you (laughter).
CHANG: How much did you have to train to look like that?
KIM: I didn't actually have to train too long. It's just something that I've done my entire career. The thing I have to do more of is stretch.
CHANG: (Laughter).
KIM: And then give myself more time to recover because, you know, as you say, I'm not as young as I used to be, so...
CHANG: Oh, I'm so sorry for rubbing it in.
KIM: No, no, it's...
CHANG: I'm going to be in my 50s very soon. Don't worry.
KIM: No, no. But it's just one of those things where I have to come to grips with the realities of my age. But I will say that I love doing action. I've always loved doing action. And it actually helps me with my acting work because being physically present and connected to your body, it grounds you as an actor.
CHANG: Well, you've made all kinds of lists for sexiest man alive. So I'm just wondering, as someone who is in his late 50s, what does it feel like to be that kind of symbol these days in an industry that, frankly, still struggles to cast an Asian guy as sexy leading man material?
KIM: It's not often that, you know, someone of my age gets to do action, regardless of what race you are. And there's a handful of actors who are still doing it. And I look at people like Tom Cruise, who's in his 60s and doing things that are mind-boggling. Jackie Chan was doing this kind of stunt work...
CHANG: Yeah.
KIM: ...Into his 60s. So it can be done. But it's also, you know, the luck of the genetic draw. My body's still cooperating with me, and I love to do it. So I'll keep doing it for as long as they'll let me.
CHANG: Well, I bring up the sexy because you have talked quite openly about how, as a kid, you felt so unattractive growing up because you lived in a steel town in Pennsylvania. And you said you looked so different from most everyone there. I've read that you mentioned you were bullied as a kid. How so?
KIM: There was a time where I moved when I was in sixth grade. And I moved from a community of kids that were really diverse. And we were all friends. I mean, it was the idyllic version of America to me because I was among friends who were white, African American, Jewish, recent immigrants from Germany. My friend is Taiwanese. I'm Korean. And so in this little neighborhood, I never felt like an outsider.
CHANG: Yeah.
KIM: But then I moved.
CHANG: OK.
KIM: I moved to the next town over, and nobody knew who I was. And that's when I started to experience the prejudgment that comes along with a face like mine. There were racial slurs thrown at me regularly. So I had an experience with both worlds, who we could be at our best and then who we are when we're not.
CHANG: So after you moved to that new neighborhood, where you felt like you didn't fit in as well, at what point in your life did your self-image begin to shift for the better?
KIM: I think my choice to be an actor had something to do with that. I think I had a need for expression that stemmed from feeling invisible. I think it must've changed when, you know, I started acting. And I felt like I was expressing myself and that I actually felt like I had something to contribute.
CHANG: You have two sons who are in their 20s now, is that correct?
KIM: Yeah.
CHANG: Do they think about being seen, being visible as Asian males growing up or living in America differently from the way you did, you think? Like, do they think about it in a healthier way? How much do you guys talk about this stuff?
KIM: We talk about it a lot.
CHANG: Yeah.
KIM: And, you know, they grew up in Hawaii.
CHANG: Yeah. Majority Asian place.
KIM: It is. And my wife and I made a conscious choice to keep our kids in Hawaii after "Lost" finished. "Hawaii Five-0" came up.
CHANG: Yeah.
KIM: And I made the conscious choice to take that job because I wanted my kids to have a continuity of experience in one place because of what I experienced after I moved. And so they had a very different upbringing than I did. In fact, the first time my son ever came across the word ch***, we had a conversation about it. He came up to me and he said, appa, what's a ch***? I was like...
CHANG: Wow.
KIM: ...Oh, OK.
CHANG: Wow.
KIM: And I got ready to sit down and have the talk. The first question I asked him was, where did you hear the word? And he said, oh, I read it in a book.
CHANG: Oh.
KIM: And that to me highlights the difference between Hawaii and where I grew up.
CHANG: Yes.
KIM: He never got called that. And now they're living on the mainland, and they're seeing the difference. And so I think they're more appreciative of their upbringing as a result.
CHANG: Do you think that generational shift that you're seeing in your own sons is happening more broadly, like in Hollywood and elsewhere?
KIM: I do. Because of shows like "Butterfly" and, you know, movies like "Crazy Rich Asians" and shows like "Beef," you know, we are more represented now than we ever have been, just on, you know, a numbers basis.
CHANG: Yes.
KIM: There are more shows and programming that feature us. And that's all part of progress.
CHANG: Daniel Dae Kim stars in the new Prime Video series "Butterfly." Thank you so much, Daniel. I so enjoyed talking to you.
KIM: Oh, me too. Hope we do it again. I'm a longtime fan.
CHANG: Oh, a hundred percent, we will.
(SOUNDBITE OF CURTIS GREEN'S "BUTTERFLY (MAIN TITLE THEME)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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