Three decades into his acting career, Daniel Dae Kim will be featured in the lead role in Nat Geo’s The Hot Zone: Anthrax beginning Sunday, November 28.
The three-part limited series stars Kim as FBI agent Matthew Ryker, an adopted Korean American law enforcement officer.
“There are some nuances to him that I really wanted,” Kim said to Media Village. “I hadn’t been able to play as an actor; for instance, what does it mean to be adopted as an Asian American? And how do you define American when you look the way I do? These were all really worthwhile explorations, and all led me to want to take this role.”
Kim says he’s impressed that the producers selected him for the anthology series despite the character’s last name. He does not believe this would have happened ten years ago and hopes the choice opens up new opportunities for Asian American actors.
“I thought that was a fascinating jumping-off point to figuring out who this person really is. And so, I was really grateful to both (showrunners) Kelly (Sounders) and Brian (Peterson) that they were willing to work with me to craft a story that would incorporate an Asian American with the last name Ryker as the lead investigator on one of the most important investigations in our country’s history.”
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Kim plays the lead investigator in a real-life case based on the anthrax terrorist threats following 9/11. He comes from a science background and the other agents don’t give his theories about the case much weight.
The alpha male White-dominated world of the FBI proves difficult for Ryker.
“Because he is a minority in terms of race in a bureau that was a predominantly White male, it presented a different kind of challenge. It’s a combination of both his science background and his ethnicity. That’s something that I could personally relate to growing up as someone who was one of the only Asian American kids in my neighborhood. I know what it felt like to struggle to have your voice heard. It’s also true for the special agent played by Dawn Olivieri: She’s a female trying to make it in a male-dominated FBI, so I think the two of us together present interesting for people for a show like this where it’s very atypical, historically.”
The Hot Zone: Anthrax also streams on Hulu beginning November 29.
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