“Butterfly” is actor and producer Daniel Dae Kim’s love letter to Korea and America.
Launching Wednesday, Prime Video’s South Korea-set spy thriller follows David Jung (Kim), a former U.S. intelligence operative who comes out of hiding to reunite along with his daughter Rebecca (Reina Hardesty), a lethal agent who grew up believing he was lifeless.
“It’s been my dream as a result of it represents the 2 main components of who I’m,” says Kim throughout a video name in late July. “I’m a Korean who was raised in America, and these are the 2 nations that I like. Why not attempt to bridge the 2 cultures? I’m uniquely suited to do this.”
Primarily based on the graphic novel sequence created by Arash Amel, Kim describes the present as “a relationship drama” the place “the motion and the conflicts come out of an emotional place.”
“One of many issues that was actually essential to me in regards to the conception of David is that I didn’t need him to be somebody that was not with out flaws,” says Kim, who additionally serves as an government producer on the sequence. “A number of his actions come from a spot of ache. A number of Rebecca’s character arc emanates from a spot of ache.”
“Butterfly” consists of loads of motion — together with hand-to-hand fights and shootouts — nevertheless it’s the central household drama, in addition to how it’s mirrored within the motion scenes, that the present’s co-creators Ken Woodruff and Steph Cha additionally tout. Rebecca’s story specifically was one of many parts Woodruff instantly responded to when he first learn the unique comedian guide sequence.
“My dad and mom received divorced once I was younger … and my dad moved throughout the nation and began an entire new household inside a 12 months or two,” Woodruff says. “There was simply this actually palpable connection that I felt with Rebecca’s relationship along with her father as a result of there’s love there, however there’s additionally animosity and resentment and jealousy. That basically hooked me in.”
Daniel Dae Kim performs David Jung in “Butterfly.”
(Juhan Noh / Prime)
Although the graphic novel takes place in Europe and America, Kim noticed transferring the story to South Korea and centering a Korean and Korean American household as a chance to bridge Hollywood and Korean leisure. This meant advocating for high Korean actors to be forged — like Park Hae-soo, Kim Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-hee — and hiring a Korean director for a block of the episodes.
“Daniel actually cared about bridging these two cultures and doing it in a really respectful method and actually ensuring that we received it proper,” Woodruff says. “At occasions, [in] totally different circumstances, his ft had been actually held to the hearth and he didn’t blink. He’d actually advocate for the Korean characters, ensuring that these actors and their roles had been as fleshed out and as attention-grabbing as each different character.”
One of many issues that stood out for Cha was simply how a lot care Kim took to take care of everybody engaged on the present.
“He’s at all times superb about ensuring that folks really feel included and precious,” Cha says. “He took it upon himself to ensure that the Korean forged felt welcome and well-integrated, and that the American forged was comfy in Korea.”
“He has a number of nunchi,” provides Woodruff about Kim’s take care of others, displaying a few of the Korean language expertise he picked up because of the Korean crew, whom the creators additionally credited for making certain Korean tradition was represented authentically on the present.
Kim is simply grateful for the shifts within the business and mainstream tradition that made a present like “Butterfly,” which was shot in Korea and encompasses a important quantity of Korean dialogue, potential.
“I don’t suppose ‘Butterfly’ might have been made even 10 years in the past,” says Kim. “The change in philosophy, I believe, is so important within the sorts of tales that we get to inform now. [And] if we do our jobs proper, there’ll be many extra similar to us.”
In a dialog edited for size and readability, Kim discusses his new sequence, his strategy to producing and the significance of utilizing his platform.
“I’m a Korean who was raised in America and these are the 2 nations that I like. Why not attempt to bridge the 2 cultures?” says Daniel Dae Kim.
(Ariana Drehsler / For The Occasions)
What was your means of discovering David? How did you come to know him?
It wasn’t arduous as a result of I’m a father myself. I understood how tough it may be to lift kids and the way our work typically will get in the best way of being an excellent dad. Generally we discover ourselves in conditions due to our work the place we have now to make tough decisions about our households. David made a alternative that he felt was proper nevertheless it ended up being absolutely the unsuitable alternative for his daughter — whether or not he’s robust sufficient to face the results of that call is de facto what the primary season is about. How a lot ache can he tolerate due to the ache he inflicted on his daughter? And, to be sincere, how egocentric is he that he nonetheless needs his imaginative and prescient of a household, although a alternative that he made destroyed it?
That looks like a distinct form of father from the one you play in “Avatar: The Final Airbender.”
They’re totally different. However for me, the core of it’s the identical: What does it imply to be a father guiding a younger life and a younger psyche? Ozai makes the selection the place he wants his youngster to comply with in his footsteps by way of management and magnificence. And if his youngster can not try this, then his youngster fails. His precedence is on the mission. I believe for David, it might need been that to a lesser diploma, however now he’s realized that that’s not the selection he needs.
Can somebody have a second probability at being an excellent dad? That, to me, is one thing that may be very human. It’s very common. Folks say in regards to the present, “Effectively, it’s shot in Korea. It’s received an Asian lead and it’s about an Asian household. I don’t know if I can relate.” When you have kids, otherwise you’ve had dad and mom, you may in all probability relate to what’s happening on this present.
“Butterfly” captures a number of nuance that tends to get misplaced in media the place identities get flattened as an alternative of conveying the totally different shades of experiences that encompasses being Korean, being Korean American, additionally whereas being in Korea.
That’s why it was essential to me that Rebecca be half Asian as a result of that’s one other a part of the expertise that we haven’t explored totally but. I sit up for that a part of it as a result of Rebecca is somebody who’s not solely half American, half Asian — she’s additionally somebody with out a mom and misplaced her father, or so she thought. For lots of my childhood, being Asian American meant that I felt like I used to be between two worlds and a member of neither. However now I’m in a spot in my profession and as an artist the place I can embrace each of these issues and say I truly can communicate authentically to each experiences, and never many individuals can try this. To me, that’s very novel in the best way we strategy this present. I attempted to do it with the quantity of respect and love that I’ve for each cultures.
You point out Rebecca, and that relationship is central to the present. What was it like establishing that dynamic with Reina Hardesty?
We had been so fortunate to search out Reina within the casting course of. It’s not simple to ask somebody to go to Korea for six months, begin coaching, do a number of heavy motion and discover the emotional depths which might be required for this character. It’s a really difficult function. When she got here aboard the entire producers simply breathed an enormous sigh of aid and had been so excited as a result of we felt, to your level, that now we have now a present.
You’re typically acknowledged as one of many individuals who have been paving the best way for different Asian American artists within the business.
I stand on the shoulders of lots of people who got here earlier than, they usually might not have been as profitable as I’ve been lucky sufficient to be, however that’s the best way this works. Folks blaze a path in order that different individuals can stroll down it with out getting pricked by thorns. So for me, it’s a parallel to my journey as a dad. My purpose is to create a life for my kids in order that they do higher than I’ve achieved. That they’d be higher individuals, that they’d be extra profitable, they’d be higher to others. I need that for us as Asian American artists.
Even after we had been struggling, there was a era of us, like Joel de la Fuente and Will Yun Lee and Ron Yuan, who would name one another on a regular basis when there have been auditions. There have been so few on the time that our philosophy was, if it’s not me, I need it to be you. Fairly frankly, given the best way our society is at this time, I believe we might all use a little bit bit extra of that feeling — that we’re all searching for each other a little bit bit greater than we have now within the latest previous.
Rebecca (Reina Hardesty) and David (Daniel Dae Kim) are reunited in “Butterfly.”
(Juhan Noh / Prime)
What has it been wish to navigate these occasions, the place the business is contracting and other people outdoors of it are more and more vocal in talking out towards range and inclusion?
It jogs my memory of that quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “The arc of the ethical universe is lengthy, nevertheless it bends towards justice.” Or, if you happen to’re extra financially minded, you’re going to have up days and down days out there, however what you’re searching for is the development line. I’m hopeful that what we’re experiencing proper now’s only a down day, and that we are going to proceed to development in the appropriate course.
I actually am assured that much more individuals perceive what it’s to consider our group as inclusive and never only a method the place it’s a foul phrase. However simply to hunt understanding of experiences apart from your individual. And that goes for everybody, not simply the minority and majority politics. There’s so many issues I study day-after-day from people who find themselves not like me and I simply really feel like that’s a extra attention-grabbing option to dwell, personally.
So far as our group is worried, we’re higher off now than we have now ever been by way of illustration. However that doesn’t imply that we’re the place we should be. Some would say that that’s a cop-out, this glass half full and half empty. However it’s a query of perspective. For me, I select to acknowledge and admire the strides that we’ve made, and in addition perceive that there’s nonetheless a methods to go, as you may see in at this time’s information, in the case of understanding each other and exhibiting compassion for one more’s journey.
In case you suppose thematically about our present, it’s actually about bringing individuals collectively, bringing a household collectively, as a metaphor for our bigger group. We are able to all have made errors. We are able to all have achieved issues that we remorse. But it surely doesn’t imply that we are able to’t attempt to rectify them and be higher individuals.
One of many greatest motion pictures out proper now’s “KPop Demon Hunters,” on which you had a voice function, Healer Han. What goes into your resolution on becoming a member of a challenge like this? Have you ever been stunned on the reception?
I at all times take into consideration what the semiotics of a challenge are once I take it. What’s the illustration like? What’s the character like? Who’re the individuals doing it? What’s the story? All this stuff go into the matrix of how I make these selections. And “KPop Demon Hunters” was a challenge in the identical spirit as “Butterfly.” It was taking a type of leisure that’s Korean however placing it into English to make it for Individuals and the world outdoors of Korea. There have been Korean Individuals behind it, similar to “Butterfly.” I noticed that once they requested me to do it, and it was a straightforward sure.
However nobody can ever inform what the affect of a challenge goes to be once you’re making it. I didn’t anticipate this from “KPop Demon Hunters,” however I certain had fun voicing the function, and that was one of many causes I did it too. I take pleasure in comedy, and once I do voice roles I get to do extra of it so I leaned into it and thought this was a enjoyable character.
The 4-year-old in my life is obsessive about “KPop Demon Hunters.”
My whole social media feed is “KPop Demon Hunters” proper now. And I gotta say, watching the Korean Ok-pop stars embrace “KPop Demon Hunters” was as significant to me as watching non-Koreans embrace it. As a result of fairly often in Korea, Korean American tales don’t resonate, however now they’re simply beginning to. Possibly “Butterfly” may be part of that, and Koreans will be aware of Korean Individuals in addition to Individuals paying attention to Korean Individuals. We’ve at all times been that center group, and hopefully we’ll have the ability to shine within the highlight.
What has it been like so that you can see the explosive reputation of Korean leisure — like Ok-pop and Ok-dramas — within the mainstream?
To start with, I’m stunned, as a result of I grew up at a time the place nobody even knew what being Korean was. Once I was a child, individuals would ask me, “Are you Chinese language?” I say no. They usually say, “Are you Japanese?” I say no. And they’d say, “Then, what are you?” There was that little consciousness of Korea. Once I was a child, my buddies would come to my home and they might see my mother making kimchi, and they might say, “What’s that stink?” However now, not solely do individuals know what it’s, however persons are consuming it, understanding the probiotic qualities that it has. It’s a part of our tradition. It makes me swell with delight. I’m so joyful for my youngsters that they don’t even know what it feels wish to be embarrassed since you’re Korean. That’s an excellent place to be.
“I select to acknowledge and admire the strides that we’ve made, and in addition perceive that there’s nonetheless a methods to go,” says Daniel Dae Kim on AAPI illustration in Hollywood.
(Ariana Drehsler / For The Occasions)
We’ve centered extra in your performing work, however what does it imply so that you can additionally tackle the function of a producer in one thing like “Butterfly”?
As an actor, you’re solely capable of take part within the tasks that ask for you. We’re at all times auditioning or hoping {that a} director likes us or a producer likes us or a studio likes us. However as a producer, you change into the job creator, and I like the thought of making alternatives for individuals. That’s one of many causes I began to provide within the first place. There was such a dearth that I believed, nicely, let me go upstream and determine why there’s such a scarcity of roles. Effectively, it’s as a result of individuals aren’t creating them, so why don’t I attempt to begin creating them.
Folks wish to suppose that my firm [3AD] is only for Asian Individuals, nevertheless it’s not. It’s actually for all these on the margins. That’s actually the story that I need to inform as a producer. We’ve all heard the story of the highschool get together by way of the eyes of the jocks and the cheerleaders and the favored youngsters. However I need to hear the story of that very same highschool get together from the individuals who snuck in or weren’t even invited, or those who’re sitting at residence not on the get together. What are these tales, as a result of to me, they’re those that haven’t been informed earlier than.
What was it like constructing the staff you’re working with on “Butterfly”?
Being a job creator means which you could determine not simply actors that you just need to work with, but in addition writers. I’m very happy with the truth that a lot of our writing workers was Asian American, or had some intimate data of Asian tradition, particularly the Korean tradition. We had been capable of rent a crew that was 100% Korean and in addition we achieved very shut, if not a 50-50 steadiness between women and men on our crew. These sorts of issues matter to me. I’ve such a stage of respect for our showrunner, Ken Woodruff, as a result of he’s not Asian American however he highlights the truth that you don’t must be Asian American to be an excellent ally and to be an excellent companion. Ken has been extremely respectful of what he doesn’t know by way of this entire course of, and has been very deferential in the case of issues just like the tradition of Korea and the best way that being Korean impacts these characters and the storylines. On the identical time, he’s been actually good about main the best way in all the things he’s discovered in his a few years as a storyteller guiding the writers room. To me, it’s the epitome of an excellent partnership. Folks speak about allyship; that is allyship in motion. I don’t know that I’ve ever labored with a greater showrunner than Ken Woodruff, and I’ve been on this enterprise for 30 years.
You’ve additionally been vocal on points which might be essential to you. Why are you motivated to talk out in that method?
As a result of I’m a human being and since I’m a citizen. I believe it’s at all times higher when you will have an knowledgeable citizenry. That’s not meant to say that just one facet is correct and the opposite is unsuitable. However I’m a giant believer in schooling. I’m a giant believer in asking questions and it’s one thing I attempt to do in my actual life. Ask, once I see one thing happening on the planet round me that appears unjust or objectionable, “Why is that? How did it get that method?” I believe all of us are entitled to have our opinion and the extra educated it’s, and the extra nicely researched it’s, the stronger that opinion may be. Folks say, “shut up and act” the best way that they might inform athletes, “shut up and dribble,” however nobody says to a plumber, “shut up and repair pipes.” Everybody who has a job is also a citizen, is a human being, is affected by the insurance policies round us day-after-day. A part of being in a democracy means making your voice heard in order that we are able to have an effect on change collectively.
The journey of our present is the way to reconcile two characters and their variations. Open dialogue, persevering with to need to study and being respectful, I believe, are issues that appear to be briefly provide lately and it makes me a little bit unhappy. I’m hopeful that a few of the tales that I get to inform can deliver us collectively reasonably than divide us.
