Daniel Dae Kim is calling out what he believes is an “overcorrection” in nationality-specific casting for Asian roles.
During a recent interview with American Masters PBS, the Butterfly actor shared why he believes there needs to be more thought behind casting for Asian and Asian American characters, as Asian actors are often held to more specific standards when it comes to identity compared to others.
“Right now, there’s a focus on nationality-specific casting when it comes to Asian Americans that I feel is an overcorrection,” he said. “Very often, when we’re cast, if the role calls for a Korean American, they will not see a Japanese American or Chinese American or any other Asian nationality.”
However, Kim explained that often “the role itself has not been thought through,” yet they’re already putting up nationality-specific barriers for actors who want to audition.
“It doesn’t require any kind of specificity in the story as it’s being told, or in the specifics of the character, because very often, it’s not even being written by an Asian person,” he continued. “So they don’t know the difference in what they’re asking for, and yet casting is being very specific.”
The Hawaii Five-0 alum recognized that there are times when nationality-specific casting is “important,” such as when “there’s an authentic language requirement in the role, or it’s based on someone who’s a real person that has cultural significance to that particular country.” But when the role centers on the broader Asian-American experience, Kim doesn’t think there should be ethnic-based limitations when it comes to casting.
“Anytime there’s a role that focuses, to me, on the American experience of being Asian — that’s something that no matter [if] you’re Korean, Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, that’s something we all share in common as Asian Americans,” he explained. “And we all know what it feels like to be othered. That’s a common experience. So to me, the nationality isn’t as important.”
Though the Lost alum believes the focused effort began with good intentions, “because originally, it was like, ‘Well, we can’t just consider them all as one,’” he encourages casting directors to be “a little bit more sophisticated now about how we can open opportunities to actors.”
That’s one of the reasons why Kim cast Reina Hardesty, who is Japanese American, as his Korean American character’s daughter in his new Prime Video series Butterfly.
“That was a deliberate choice on my part, because what the significant part of her character was is the idea of feeling alienated and alone in America. You don’t have to be Korean American to feel that way,” he shared.
Moving forward, the Avatar: The Last Airbender actor hopes for more open dialogue in Hollywood about the topic, especially since he has noticed “Asian American actors are often specified by nationality when other ethnicities are not.”
“When African American actors are hired, very rarely are they asked, where is their country of ancestry? Whether you’re Botswanan or from the Ivory Coast, it’s not pertinent. Especially if you’re playing an American,” Kim said.
The actor also used non-American actors playing American comic book characters (such as British actors Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson and Henry Cavill) as another example to back up his observations when it comes to nationality-specific casting.
“How many of our superheroes who are playing American are from other countries like Australia and England?” Kim asked. “And yet we don’t ever ask whether that’s important, relevant, and it doesn’t limit them from taking those roles. In fact, we welcome them.”