As an actor, I was often shielded from the big-picture decisions. But as a producer, I experience all the conversations where there's pushback or a difference of opinion.
— Daniel Dae Kim
Something I often say is, 'I stand on the shoulders of the people who came before, and I'm ready to lift up people to stand on my shoulders.' And one of the ways we can do that is to hire them.
I'm such a fan of films and books like 'Lord of the Rings' and even 'Star Wars,' despite the fact that, as an actor, I'll never be employed by them.
It takes facing obstacles to grow strong enough to overcome them.
It's one thing to talk about lack of diversity and lack of representation. But that doesn't matter if you're not good at what you're supposed to be doing.
Actors are at the mercy of roles that are offered.
I really missed the East Coast. I love living in Hawaii, but I miss the changing of seasons.
What I do know is how difficult it is in this industry to get a show on the air. There's so many different stages: getting a script bought by the network, then getting a pilot made and having that pilot go to series, and then, when that series gets on the air, having people watch it.
I think time travel is really tricky. But if there's a logic and a complete and well-thought-through paradigm for it, I think it can be really interesting. Some of my favorite time-travel movies just make me think and, you know, the 'what if' question becomes a big one.
But with two boys and a new puppy, we don't get out much. We're usually home doing stuff together as a family, like watching 'Modern Family.'
I'm funny at home too, but not deliberately. My wife is usually laughing at me rather than with me.
I have done a lot of things outside of Science Fiction, but there has been an almost disproportionate amount of that genre in my body of work. I don't know what to make of it.
I've read some criticism of 'The Good Doctor' that says it's overly sweet and syrupy. I'll take that criticism, given the world that we live in. I'd much rather be on that side of the equation than the opposite.
I grew up in a steel town, and at the time, when I was a kid, there weren't any Asian families in the area. So it had its challenges.
The path to equality is rarely easy.
Diversity is more than just a buzzword to me. It's my life.
My dad even likes to give me career advice. I'll let him know about some offers about films and TV shows that I get, and he'll ask me questions like, 'What's the money like?' and 'Who got this for you - was it your agent or manager, and what are they getting out of this?'
It's a fun job, but actors are like vagabonds and must go where the work is.
I've lived in Hawaii long enough now where people don't make a big deal about me being there; I'm just a part of the community, thankfully.
I've always wanted to see what it would be like to live in feudal Japan; I think that would be interesting.
There's something about being in a house with an audience, and having that immediate feedback. I started acting because of that energy; it's what feeds me on stage and informs my choices.
My wife will tell you it's the little things, like driving my boys to school on my days off so she can rest. We're not into PDA, but every time we end a phone conversation, we say 'sarang,' which means love in Korean.
Well, here's what I'll say: The storytellers of 'Lost' have taken us on a pretty great journey, and there have been questions along the way, and criticisms along the way, but if you look at the totality of the show, or the experience of it as a whole, I think as long as you look at it from that perspective you'll be happy.
I like to think that I'm not as ominous in real life.
I consciously think about the ethnicity of every character that I create and cast. But one thing that is equally important is quality representation. It's not enough to put an African-American in there, a female in there, a gay character in there: How significant is their contribution? Can they drive the story?
There are people whose work I greatly admire who just don't write to my experience in any way.
As someone of Korean descent, I am certain my road was a bit hard. I have to say anyone who's an aspiring actor has a difficult road regardless of race.
It's very difficult to be asking other people for opportunities. It is much more empowering to be creating opportunities, to be the one who is saying, 'Look, I'm going to take this from the ground up and create a story that is meaningful to me as an Asian American and cast it with Asian Americans and have Asian Americans writing it.'
When you look at what's written under the Statue of Liberty, it's the immigrant story. It's about 'bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.' It's not about 'only bring me only your rich, your wealthy, your smart.'
Hawaii is so boring because it's always sunny.
When I wanted to be an attorney, I think I wanted to be a litigator; I wanted to be in a courtroom.
I've always been really interested in the age of the samurai in Japan.
What's great in theater is that you can sustain the arc of a character for a full three hours, whereas in film or TV, you have to create that arc in little pieces, and usually out of sequence.
There is as much wisdom in listening as there is in speaking - and that goes for all relationships, not just romantic ones.
It saddens me to know that I jeopardized the welfare of the kind people of Hawaii, a community that I love and call my home.
