Daniel Dae Kim scores first-ever series lead with The Hot Zone
A big congratulations today to actor Daniel Dae Kim, who, after a scant multiple literal decades of being one of the most interesting elements of any number of major TV shows, has finally landed his first leading role on TV. Specifically, the young (i.e., 51) up-and-comer, after paying his dues for a handful of presidential administrations on shows like Lost and Hawaii 5-0, has lined up the lead role on Nat Geo’s latest installment of its pandemic anthology series, The Hot Zone. Truly, it’s a heartwarming tale for any young actor of color in Hollywood: Keep striving, deal with ongoing and rampant pay inequalities, and maintain charismatic perfection for a mere 31 years, and you, too, can star in your own TV show.
Kim noted his milestone on Twitter today, along with the announcement that he’d be starring in The Hot Zone: Anthrax, the follow-up to last year’s Julianna Margulies-led season of the series, which has now been re-classified The Hot Zone: Murder House. (Note: This is a joke, although the thought of Ryan Murphy tackling a show about an Ebola breakout does have a certain over-the-top thrill to it, now that we think about it.) Kim will star opposite Tony Goldwyn, in a series that will focus on the 2001 attacks that saw samples of anthrax spores mailed to multiple newsrooms and political offices, killing five people and injuring several more. Fingers crossed that the series can capture just how completely insane that period—which began one whole week after 9/11—really was, as well as, again, letting Daniel Dae Kim fucking do his thing for once. Fingers crossed.