Daniel Dae Kim says Asian American actors face unfair ‘overcorrection’ in casting

Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim said Asian and Asian American actors are increasingly held to stricter nationality-based casting rules than performers from other backgrounds, calling the trend an “overcorrection” during a recent conversation with “American Masters PBS.”

Kim observed that casting directors often require a role to match a specific Asian national origin even when the story does not demand it. “If the role calls for a Korean American, they will not see a Japanese American or Chinese American or any other Asian nationality,” the 57-year-old star said. He added, “There are very often times when the role itself has not been thought through. It doesn’t require any kind of specificity in the story as it’s being told.”

He acknowledged that nationality may be essential in cases such as portraying real people or roles with authentic language requirements, but he stressed that many Asian American stories focus on shared experiences. “Anytime there’s a role that focuses, to me, on the American experience of being Asian … we all know what it feels like to be othered. That’s a common experience. So to me, the nationality isn’t as important,” Kim said.

He contrasted these expectations with casting norms for other groups. “Asian American actors are often specified by nationality when other ethnicities are not,” he said. “When African American actors are hired, very rarely are they asked, where is their country of ancestry? … How many of our superheroes who are playing American are from other countries like Australia and England? And yet we don’t ever ask whether that’s important.”