As many successful actors do, Daniel Dae Kim has a presence that impresses and draws attention.
Though he’s not a big guy, he exudes strength, with his athletic, agile build. He’s leaped over barriers at season-premiere events for “Hawaii Five-0” on the beach in Waikiki, jumping off the red carpet so admirers could get a good selfie.
On camera and in person, he has a direct gaze and a winning smile.
Kim put his laser-focused look to good effect in “Five-0,” revealing it when about to pounce on a suspect as Lt. Chin Ho Kelly. He also uses it to dramatic effect in the hit ABC series “The Good Doctor,” playing chief of surgery Dr. Jackson Han, who clashes with star Freddie Highmore’s autistic character, Shaun Murphy.
Kim is a focused man, and his focus is on succeeding in many possible aspects of film, stage and television. He is actually an executive producer of “The Good Doctor,” which plays into his continuing effort to break down barriers that prevent Asian actors from reaching the heights of stardom.
“Hellboy,” his latest project, comes out in theaters today. He co-stars in the R-rated, comic-book-based superhero film, playing a conflicted character with shape-shifting powers.
As the work and the roles keep coming, he somehow remains seemingly well-balanced — a family man with a son in high school. His home base is Hawaii, even as he pursues film and television work across the globe — in the U.S. and Canada, South Korea, and even Bulgaria, where filming for “Hellboy” took place.
KIM’S CO-STARRING role in “Hellboy” and a role in an upcoming romantic comedy on Netflix, “Always Be My Maybe,” have put him in the sights of entirely new groups of film fans. In advance of their openings, he’s been on a busy circuit of interviews and appearances.
Before taking off for the Los Angeles round of publicity events, Kim made time for a Hawaii talk-story.
Meeting for an interview at a beachside Waikiki restaurant, where he arrived early, Kim politely asked a waiter for permission to sit at a table in an unused part of the room. (The waiter promptly gave the OK, then nearly dropped some dishes he was carrying, perhaps out of excitement.)
Looking trim in a slim-fitting aloha shirt flecked with small blue flowers, Kim answered questions about the arc of his career for the better part of an hour, growing most animated when talking about the importance of seeing Asian Americans represented in film, TV and theater.
Kim calls Hawaii his home, and says he’s “actively seeking” projects he can be part of here in the islands, both as an actor and producer.
“I want to start telling stories about this place, and I want to shoot here again, so if I can make it happen I will,” he said.
WHILE HE is gracious and quick to flash a smile, Kim makes no secret of his discipline and ambition. In his experience, he said, no one opens the door for you in the entertainment industry.
He’s proud of his unparalleled success in filming two successful television series in Hawaii: “Lost,” which prompted his move to the islands in 2004 and ran on ABC through 2010, and “Hawaii Five-0,” the CBS show that Kim helped launch in 2010 and left in 2017.
Not content with merely the TV shows, Kim also starred in the musical “The King and I,” on Broadway in 2016.
“I’ve always liked to challenge myself,” he said. “I have a background in classical theater, and when I went to do ‘King and I’ on Broadway, that’s one of the examples of the ways I just want to experience everything I can — I mean, regardless of medium, regardless of genre.”
He formed production company 3AD Media in 2013, and after years of development, brought “The Good Doctor” to America in 2017.
Kim’s role in “The Good Doctor” is a character type that the actor said he relishes — a complicated, contemporary man who drives the course of events in his orbit, though his motives may be murky.
He likely surprised many fans with his appearance on TNT’s “Drop the Mic” early this year, when he spit out (scripted) insults against his former “Lost” co-stars Josh Holloway and Harold Perrineau with fierce intensity — again with the laser focus — and won the rap battle.
“You know, when you think about ‘Hellboy’ coming out, and the roles I’ve gotten to play in the last few years, in ‘Hellboy,’ ‘The King and I,’ to the role I played in ‘The Good Doctor’ to rapping, you know, on ‘Drop the Mic’ (laughing), and I have a romantic comedy coming out, I really do feel fortunate that I’m able to play this range,” he said. “Because I can — and I enjoy it.”
“HELLBOY,” KIM says, is a “roller-coaster ride,” darkly comic and profane, with graphic violence and sexual innuendo.
“People should be forewarned that it is rated R, and it earns that rating,” Kim said.
Kim’s character, Ben Daimio, is a Japanese military officer, and both an ally and antagonist to Hellboy, a creature of great strength who was created to be a people-killing machine but raised to have compassion for humans and fight forces of evil.
“They are members of the same organization and they’re asked to work together, but because of things in his own history, he’s hesitant to work with Hellboy closely. We discover why through the course of the movie — and they forge a very interesting bond by the end.”
What Kim means is that Daimio appears to be repelled by creatures with superpowers — and then is revealed to be one. Meanwhile, his character’s cold reactions to Hellboy’s dilemmas are often used to humorous effect.
Laughing, Kim said, “I was told not to talk about it at all — then they released the trailer and showed it, so I thought, ‘I guess I can talk about it.’” There’s a particular rise to his voice, an excitement in being wrapped up in the arc of “Hellboy” and its hype.
“I’ve seen a screening of it. It’s very entertaining,” he said.
“What I love about this character is that he is a superhero. What we discover at the end is that he has the ability to turn into a jaguar,” Kim said.
“When the role came up, I really was thinking, how many Asian Americans have we seen as superheroes? I’ve seen Benedict Wong (as Wong, a master of mystic arts) in ‘Doctor Strange,’ and Jenna Chan (as Minn-Erva, an alien sniper) in ‘Captain Marvel,’ but we have yet to really see an Asian American superhero take center stage. And I’m not saying that I am, or that I will be, but I’m not aware that there are any others who have been featured to the degree that my character has.”
He acknowledges that, when it comes to “Hellboy,” it may shock some fans to see him play a violent, conflicted character who frequently drops the F-bomb. But he said he welcomes taking on roles across a range of moral backgrounds.
“Not everyone is good, not everyone is bad. As an actor, to have the choice to play the shades of gray and the entire breadth of human experience is very valuable, and if I’m able to do that, I’m extremely fortunate.”
IT HASN’T always been smooth sailing for the actor.
“If I knew how to take no for an answer I guarantee you I wouldn’t be sitting here right now,” he said, smiling broadly. “Nor would I be living here in Hawaii.”
“There are so many people in this business who are willing to tell you that you don’t belong here, and that’s independent of race or gender or sexual orientation. And part of being an actor is learning how to accept rejection and continuing despite it.”
In 2017, Kim and fellow “Five-O” actor Grace Park left the show after failing to reach a salary agreement with CBS. According to Variety, the pair had been seeking salaries comparable with those of stars Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan, but were offered less.
“The path to equality is rarely easy,” he said then, in a Facebook post to fans.
Kim was approached to replace Ed Skrein in the “Hellboy” reboot later the same year — after an outcry erupted over casting a Caucasian in the role, which was originally written as Asian, and Skrein bowed out.
Kim commented, “White-washing has gone on in our business for decades. As recently as a couple of years ago, it was a significant issue. But who knows? I’m hopeful that what Ed Skrein did will be a beacon for other actors to say this kind of casting isn’t right. …
“At the same time, I think there’s never been a better time to be an Asian American in this industry. The way we’re examining the relationships between men and women, and different races and sexual orientations is positive. We should be looking at those things and asking ourselves those questions as a culture.”
“When I first started out, I did play a lot of villains, and I think that was part of just the range of roles that Asian Americans were being offered at the time. There wasn’t the depth and breadth that is being offered now. So I played my share in the past. But the roles that I’ve become known for is people who start out sort of questionable and enigmatic, and end up becoming characters that people support.”
KIM’S NEXT project is “Always Be My Maybe,” due out at the end of May on Netflix.
“It’s a romantic comedy with an all Asian American cast, set in America, which I think is fantastic,” he said.
Comedy star Ali Wong (“Baby Cobra”) plays the lead, opposite Randall Park (“Fresh off the Boat”). Kim plays Wong’s character’s boyfriend as the movie opens.
Working on the film was “a fantastic experience,” Kim said, and working with Wong was “a joy.”
His other source of joy, he said, is his family life, here in Hawaii.
“I love it here, and I loved it from the moment I arrived,” Kim said.
“I’ve never felt more at home than I have in Hawaii. And it’s not just because we have an Asian population here. It’s the values, and it’s where I wanted to raise my family. And that’s the reason we still live here,” Kim said.
“I feel so lucky that my feelings about Hawaii have been largely reciprocated. People have been so kind to me and my family. … I’m a member of this community and I care about it.”
“To me it goes beyond being a visitor trying to do something nice. I live here, and the welfare of my family is tied into the welfare of this island, these islands. And so I want to see it do well.”
“I want to see us progress.”
Kim’s latest gesture of aloha comes Sunday with a screening of “Hellboy” at Ward Theatres. All proceeds benefit the Aloha Cancer Project, a nonprofit founded by Kim’s friend Christa Wittmier, a DJ and nightlife blogger who died in January after a years-long battle with breast cancer.
“It’s just another way for doing something for the community, and celebrating something good,” Kim said.
