He’s flying into a spy show.
“Lost” star Daniel Dae Kim stars in and exec produces the new Prime Video spy thriller, “Butterfly.”
“I’ve always wanted to make a show that bridged Korean culture with American culture,” Kim, 57, exclusively told The Post. “Because that’s who I am. And, I haven’t seen anything like that on TV before.”
He added, “And so I thought, why not try and make it if I haven’t seen it? We were able to adapt this comic book…The original was set in Europe, and I thought if we transplant it to Korea, because of what I look like, then it’s a natural segue to address the themes that I’m interested in.”
Premiering Aug. 13 on Prime Video, “Butterfly” was based on graphic novels of the same name, and follows David Jung (Kim), a former US intelligence operative living in South Korea.
His life gets shaken up when he must evade agents sent to kill him. To make matters more complicated, this sends him back into his estranged daughter Rebecca’s (Reina Hardesty) life. Piper Perabo plays Rebecca’s boss.
Kim, who has been married to his wife, Mia Kim, since 1993, and shares two sons with her, told The Post, “I’m a father, and so I was able to draw from the experiences I’ve had as a parent… because parent/child dynamics are rarely simple.”
The Tony-nominated actor said that the crux of the difficult relationship between David and Rebecca is that, “David is someone who thinks he’s doing the right thing for his family. But, they’re completely wrong decisions in the eyes of his daughter.”
Kim, who first rose to fame on “Lost,” spoke Korean on that hit ABC show. The actor, who was born in South Korea but grew up in America, has stated in previous interviews that he had to brush up on the Korean language for his role on the iconic mystery show.
The “Hawaii Five-0” actor mostly speaks English on “Butterfly,” but since it’s set in Korea, the language appears in the show, too.
“I always spoke Korean, and I always understood it,” Kim told The Post. “But I didn’t speak it as much as I used to when I was growing up. So, the speaking part is what I had to relearn [for ‘Lost’].”
When he was filming “Butterfly” in Korea, he said he found it “easier this time around,” because “I kept up [the language] a little bit since the days of ‘Lost.’”
The “KPop Demon Hunters” actor added that it was also “more challenging, because the levels of conversation I was having in Korea were more sophisticated, because I’m also producing this. But anytime I get to speak Korean, it’s a thrill for me, especially on camera.”
“Lost” was on from 2004 to 2010 – but despite the fact that it aired over twenty years ago, new fans still flock to that show and debate its ending.
“What an honor it is that twenty years after a show is on the air, that people still remember it,” said Kim.
“A lot of actors will work in this industry for decades if they’re lucky enough to even do that, and not have anything that they’re known for. To be known for a show that people remember for that long – I feel fortunate,” he added.
