Daniel Dae Kim talks secrets, ambitions, and 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'

Daniel Dae Kim, a renowned actor, recently opened up about bridging cultures and embracing his newfound “cool” factor thanks to his role in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

While having a conversation with Deadline Studio in Jeddah, Kim, a juror at the Red Sea Film Festival, revealed that he is enjoying seeing “great talent” from the region.

He also talked about “making the world a little bit smaller” through international collaboration, mentioning that Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender introduced him to a "new generation of fans."

Notably, the 56-year-old star, who served on his sophomore year on a jury for an international film festival, articulated, “I know the amount of work it entails and how seriously one needs to take that work.”

Kim did not share any details about the panel’s decisions, which is led by Spike Lee, but shared, “The group is getting along really well, so talking about all the films has been easy. We’re all very open—very opinionated—but also very collaborative.”

Moving forward, the actor of The Good Doctor, who is visiting Saudi Arabia for the first time, quipped, “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.”

“But being exposed to great talent from this region is something that’s new to me, and I’m really enjoying it,” he remarked.

Kim continued, “The one thing that I’ve found in working around the world is that there are so many talented people from every different region, and it would be an honor to work with talented people from anywhere.”

The Joy Ride star went on to explain by saying, “I think the world is getting smaller, and so there are more interesting co-productions between America and other countries, and frankly, it doesn’t even need to be a co-production; if it’s a great filmmaker, great actor, or great writer from a different country, I’m very open to it.”

For the unversed, Kim recently finished working on the spy series Butterfly, which is produced by his company, 3AD, for Amazon.

It is pertinent to mention that the series, which will be out on December 12, 2024, is made in Korea, featuring a Korean crew and a mix of American and Korean actors.