‘Butterfly’ Star Daniel Dae Kim On Feeling ‘Grateful’ For America’s Love For Korean Culture

Daniel Dae Kim has gone from helping singing demon slayers to fighting a secret shadow organization in the Prime Video series, Butterfly.

Butterfly follows a secret agent who reconnects with his daughter, who has also become an agent and was initially tasked with killing him. Now on the run, both father and daughter must reconcile their terse relationship in order to stay alive.

The graphic novel series by Arash Amel was transposed to Korea and has Kim as an executive producer. The change in locale is in line with Hollywood’s current fascination with Korean culture.

Daniel Dae Kim on shifting perspectives

Kim, who stars in both Butterfly and the hit Netflix film KPop Demon Hunters, told Shadow and Act he feels “grateful” to be a part of Hollywood’s embrace of Korean stories.

“When I started my career, no one knew anything about Korean culture. The only Korean culture that we saw on our televisions was M.A.S.H. in the ’70s,” he said. “… I know how far we’ve come and I don’t think a show like Butterfly could have been made 10 years ago because there wouldn’t have been the interest, not only in the part of the studios and the networks, but also in the population to say that we have a show that’s bringing over Korean actors and that we shot in Korea. Now there’s an awareness of these actors that there wasn’t 10 years ago.”

The impact of Korean culture in Hollywood

He also said that KPop Demon Hunters’ popularity couldn’t have happened without the public caring about Korean culture.

“I don’t think you could ever have a movie like that be successful without people already caring about K-Pop. And so like most other things, they’re building blocks, we build on everything that came before us. And I’m glad to be a part of that process.”

Watch the full interviews with the cast, including Reina Hardesty, Piper Perabo and Louis Landau, below.

Butterfly is now streaming on Prime Video.