August 24, 2025
Daniel Dae Kim, an American actor, is known for many roles, such as Lost, for example.
Given his over two-decade career, he became the first Asian actor to get a nomination at the Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play.
"To be nominated for [best lead actor] is a dream come true and a really good metaphor for where we are culturally. We’ve made a lot of progress, but there’s still a ways to go," he told People.
The 57-year-old also said he wanted, "The next step that we have to take, and not just for me, but for all of us, is for an Asian man to win that category.
Daniel, who is nominated for David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face play, elsewhere in the interview said he wanted to do romantic roles, which he previously did not do.
"I would love to be a romantic lead," the Butterfly star said. "Just boy meets girl — but I am getting a bit old for that, so it may be man meets woman."
Moreover, the actor, who played Fire Lord Ozai in Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender, previously told Deadline that the show introduced him to a "new generation of fans."
"Living in America and then doing a lot of work in Asia, I’m aware of all the great filmmakers in that region and, of course, in America," he added.
“But being exposed to great talent from this region is something that’s new to me, and I’m really enjoying it,” Daniel concluded.