Daniel Dae Kim

I wish that The Hangover had hit theaters in 2007 to get that roundtable’s perspective on Mr. Chow, because my immediate reaction to the role in the context of Asian American stereotyping was that it represented more of the same. Don’t get me wrong: Ken Jeong is a hilarious scene-stealer. And I get the fact that the comedy intentionally flaunted stereotypes to elevate the oh-no-they-didn’t factor, but I still give Mr. Chow a meh.

My Daniel Dae Kim crush began when I first saw him on Angel as Gavin Park, a rising star at an evil law firm. (Those cheekbones! That comic timing!) But of course, he’s best known as Jin-Soo Kwon on Lost. After only one season on network primetime, Kim already had enough people crushing to earn a spot on People Magazine’s "Sexiest Man Alive" list 2005. Since Asian men normally get an asexual treatment on TV, it’s refreshing to see that Daniel Dae Kim has maintained official heartthrob status, and proved his acting chops too.

Jin’s character arc over the first four seasons of Lost also subverts expectations. He started out as an overbearing husband in the stereotypical Asian tradition (with an exceedingly timid Asian wife to match). But over the course of the series, Jim and Sun’s relationship has been revealed to be a lot more complicated, and has grown to be more loving and equitable, too.
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