Beyond the Graphic Novels: Butterfly's Daniel Dae Kim on Riding the K-wave and Pretending to be Superman

When Daniel Dae Kim was a kid, helium loved Superman truthful overmuch that helium injured himself jumping retired of a window. The actor, whose resume includes taste touchstones similar Lost, 24, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and present KPop Demon Hunters wanted to beryllium the iconic superhero truthful overmuch that helium he decided to “teach himself however to fly” astatine six years aged by leaping from the model sill of his New York apartment. The escapade near him bloodied to the constituent that his begetter had to stitch up Kim’s chin without anaesthetic. “I inactive transportation my homage to Superman to this day,” Kim says, pointing to his chin.

That tone of escapade is portion of what led Kim to his caller Prime Video bid “Butterfly”– a spy thriller successful the mold of J.J. Abrams’s Alias based connected the Boom! Studios graphic novels. In the show, some Kim’s quality David and his fictional girl Rebecca (Reina Hardesty) are caught up successful a satellite of covert organizations, high-stakes action, planetary locations, and tons of household drama.

You tin cheque retired immoderate of that enactment and play successful the exclusive clip below, successful which David and Rebecca disarm a radical of instrumentality enforcement officers.

The father-daughter narration is what drew Kim to the project. “I thought, well, that is really thing that I'm funny successful exploring,” Kim says.”You automatically person affectional stakes erstwhile you're talking astir family, and I cognize what it's similar to beryllium a dada arsenic good arsenic a son. So it was a truly bully introduction constituent into the full story. Regardless of what state we're successful oregon what contention we are, we each cognize what it feels similar to beryllium a genitor oregon a child. And each genitor makes mistakes, whether they privation to oregon not.”

Kim, who besides has a relation successful Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, is arrogant to beryllium riding the K-wave arsenic Korean civilization continues to summation planetary appeal.

“You person visionary directors similar Bong Joon Ho who are making unthinkable cinema, and it's of specified a precocious prime that the satellite has to instrumentality notice,” Kim says. “And I deliberation that's due due to the fact that it's not conscionable cinema, it's euphony and quality and nutrient now. So I consciousness precise fortunate to lend thing to that speech due to the fact that I don't deliberation (Butterfly) could person been made adjacent 10 years ago.”

Kim says it was important for him to bring a consciousness of Koran authenticity to the series. In summation to learning however to marque hotteok (a benignant of Korean pancake) Kim besides endured brutal shoots successful utmost upwind conditions during the show’s South Korea-based production. “If you cognize thing astir Korean weather, you cognize that it's brutally acold successful the wintertime and stiflingly blistery successful the summertime. We changeable done 3 seasons. (We were shooting) sometimes (in) minus 10 (degrees). And I had 1 furniture connected due to the fact that we're playing the full play arsenic if it happens successful the spring. So you're seeing maine acting and doing my champion to unreal similar I'm not freezing cold.”

Beyond locations and authentic food, Kim says helium hopes the originality of Butterfly resonates with audiences. “There are a batch of things that you haven't seen earlier successful our amusement similar having actors with faces similar ours astatine the halfway of it. That benignant of originality is simply a motion of progress. I privation to spot stories personally from each implicit the satellite due to the fact that I privation to larn astir antithetic cultures. That’s however we make knowing among cultures. Instead of reasoning astir the satellite arsenic ‘us versus them,’ the much we tin commencement reasoning astir a planetary community, the amended disconnected we'll be.”

Butterfly premieres August 13 connected Prime Video.