Daniel Dae Kim (born August 4, 1968) is an American actor.
Kim or DDK (as 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. 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. He graduated from NYU's prestigious Graduate Acting Program in 1996.
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. Although his character in Lost speaks mainly in Korean and has almost no ability to speak English, English is actually Daniel's primary language. He has been seen in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as a treasury agent as well as Angel, 24, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Crusade, Charmed, The Shield, Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, and ER. He was recently starred in the A&E TV miniseries The Andromeda Strain. His film credits include a small part in Spider-Man 2 as a scientist working in Doctor Octavius' laboratory and Crash, the 2004 Best Picture Academy Award winner.
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, which he will be reprising in the sequel Saints Row 2. 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.
Kim has been cast as the King of Siam in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I (alongside Maria Friedman as Anna Leonowens) to be presented June 12-28, 2009 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England.
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.