Daniel Dae Kim has seen a lot of changes in Hollywood after more than three decades as an actor. When he initially started in Hollywood in the early ‘90s, he played a variety of Asian characters and ethnicities. It was during the height of the Hong Kong cinema craze, with Jackie Chan and the growing popularity of Wong Kar Wai films in America. Though it was an exciting time for Asians, Asian American actors fell through the cracks.
“I thought, this is going to be great for all Asian Americans, but it wasn’t,” Kim tells The Nerds of Color over Zoom. “It was great for Asians coming over, but it didn’t result in more roles for us.”
However, over time, things improved for Asian Americans (and their diaspora) as stories centered around them began to emerge, with notable examples including the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians, Netflix’s Beef, the romantic comedy Always Be My Maybe, and comedians like Ali Wong, Ronny Chieng, Jimmy O. Yang, Ken Jeong, and many others.
Kim is also working hard to build his production company, 3AD, to bring more Asian Americans to the forefront. His team brought forth the American adaptation of the Korean drama, The Good Doctor, which employed and starred a large number of not only Asian Americans and diaspora, but also people of color, in general.
He’s now executive producing and starring in Prime Video’s Butterfly.
Based on the graphic novel created by Arash Amel and produced by Boom! Studios, Butterfly tells the story of former US intelligence operative David Jung (Kim) returning to his previous life to find his estranged daughter, Rebecca (Reina Hardesty), who has been working as a deadly assassin for a sinister organization to which David was once affiliated.
The initial story was not set in South Korea nor did it feature anyone of Korean descent. In a collaborative effort between American studios and Korean storytellers, Kim credits Butterfly showrunner Ken Woodruff for his openness and receptiveness to Korean culture, as well as for working closely with the Korean team to ensure authenticity and respect.
“It required everyone checking egos at the door and saying, ‘This is what I know and what I don’t know,’” says Kim. “This is a story I want to tell. How can we help each other tell it? So, to me, it was a real testament to the idea of allyship. It really takes a village. We had an amazing Korean crew.”
Woodruff would check in with the Korean actors and crew to ensure they felt included and supported throughout the process. Kim, who is Korean American, also wanted to build David Jung, also Korean American, authentically. He says, “We were able to build in that authenticity of my lived experience, and have Ken and the writers shape [David and Rebecca] in such a way that made them what you see on the screen today.”
While many Asian American actors struggled to stand out among the Asian filmmakers and actors before, Kim says it’s different this time around for Asian Americans, as many are in positions of power and are leading the charge in including Asian American stories.
“I feel we have accomplished writers and actors who actually can center a story around being Asian American, like Butterfly does,” Kim explains. “It’s one of the first shows that I know of — and I say that with complete modesty — that actually tells a story about Korea and America through Korean American eyes, and that feels special to me. That feels very different to me. I hope that it gives Asian Americans who have traditionally felt like they fall between the cracks of two cultures the feeling that we have a unique position, and that we can tell the stories of both cultures based on our authentic experiences.”
With the increasing presence of Asian American executives and companies, such as 3AD and Imminent Collision, there are more opportunities for the Asian diaspora to share their stories or be cast in projects. While Kim states this conversation is more nuanced, he sees “there is a certain element of a rising tide lifting all boats.”
“I think we’re now at a point where we can take the conversation one step further to use our heritage and take ownership of it in a way that we have the pride,” says Kim. “And, now use it to do things like Butterfly. I have experience in the American industry, and I know what it feels like to be Korean, so I’m going to now authentically tell our story or my story with a level of expertise, respect, and authenticity.”
Butterfly premieres on Wednesday, August 13, with all six episodes on Prime Video.