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Associated Press

The first monologue Daniel Dae Kim ever performed was by David Henry Hwang.
He had to do one for his college summer programme at the National Theatre Institute in the US state of Connecticut. Kim chose a scene from FOB, Hwang’s 1980 play about the assimilation struggles of a Chinese-American.
So it is fitting that 35 years later Hwang – the first Asian-American to win the Tony Award for best play – would be the one to bring Kim into the Tony spotlight.
Known for TV series such as Lost and Hawaii Five-0, Kim, 56, is the first Asian nominee in the category of best leading actor in a play in the Tonys’ 78-year history for his work in a Broadway revival of Hwang’s Yellow Face.
It’d be a huge surprise if I won, but I will say that even getting the nomination is a win
Daniel Dae Kim
“I can imagine a lot of things, but I did not imagine this scenario with David,” Kim said.
“That I would be in a play with him, that we would both be nominated for Tony Awards and we would be able to call each other friends.”


In the semi-autobiographical show, which ran last autumn at the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York, Kim played a satirical version of Hwang. The show also scored nods for best play revival and best performance by a featured actor in a play for first-time nominee Francis Jue, an original 2007 cast member.
You could not have scripted a better ending for a play that was written in response to the musical Miss Saigon casting white actors as Asian characters.
This groundbreaking nomination seems like the perfect karmic reward for Kim, who has spent years advocating for greater Asian representation.
At the pandemic’s height, the Korean-American actor was a constant media presence, speaking out against anti-Asian hate. He also jump-started a campaign for veteran actor James Hong, then 91, to get a Hollywood star.
He woke up to the news of his nomination after people were able to get around his phone’s “do not disturb” mode. His competition includes George Clooney and Cole Escola.

“It’d be a huge surprise if I won, but I will say that even getting the nomination is a win, especially when you put it in the context of our community and what this means for Asian-Americans,” said Kim, whose previous Broadway credits include The King and I.
He admits it’s surprising and “a little sad” that no other Asian actor has been nominated in this category. There has still never been an Asian nominee for best lead actress in a play.
“Of course, the barrier we really want to break is to actually have someone win, and hopefully that happens sooner rather than later, whether it’s me or not.”
Kim is one of seven Asian acting nominees this year. Only three acting trophy winners have been Asian. One was Lea Salonga for Miss Saigon and another was Ruthie Ann Miles for The King and I. Coincidentally, the first was BD Wong for best featured actor in Hwang’s Tony-winning play M. Butterfly.
Hwang takes special pride in helping actors break glass ceilings.

“I get to feel like, ‘Oh, maybe I’m actually able to make a difference’ and change the culture in the way that my little-kid self would have loved but would not have thought possible,” said Hwang, who now has his fourth career Tony nomination. He was last nominated 22 years ago.
For a long time, Hwang felt the only way to get a play with Asian characters made was to set it outside America because “Broadway audiences are not interested in Asian-Americans”.
Historically, productions with Asian ensembles have been musicals set in “the exotic lands of Asia”, such as The King and I, said Esther Kim Lee, a theatre studies professor at Duke University and author of The Theatre of David Henry Hwang.
Flower Drum Song, set in San Francisco, was an exception, but the songs and book were by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Hwang actually revised the book in 2002.
“It’s 2025. We finally see an actual Asian-American play with an Asian-American lead,” Lee said. “You can have The King and I and have great actors and they may get Tony Awards, but it’s really not about Asian-Americans. That this has happened with Yellow Face is just incredible.”

The show’s two-month run brought the Roundabout a 50 per cent increase in first-time audience members – “a powerful statement”, Kim said.
“One of the nicest compliments I would hear after the show when I would go to the stage door is, ‘This is the first Broadway show I’ve ever seen’,” Kim said. “That meant a lot to me because bringing Asian-Americans into the theatre is important and bringing younger people into the theatre is important just for the health of theatre in general.”
Besides discussing whitewash casting, Yellow Face examines the pain of the main character’s immigrant father. The role is based on Hwang’s father’s experience being wrongly accused of laundering money for China.
Five years after the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes, Kim sees Yellow Face making it to Broadway as a victory.
“I don’t want to get preachy, but I will say that the goal with spotlighting and elevating people of colour is not to threaten the establishment,” Kim said. “The goal was really to say everyone can contribute to our society. Everyone can be a positive force for change.”


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Daniel Dae Kim makes Tony Awards history, pushes Asian representation on Broadway

Daniel Dae Kim during a performance of David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face on Broadway. His performance in the role has made him the first Asian best leading actor nominee for a Tony Award. Photo: AP

Kim (left) and Ryan Eggold during a performance of Yellow Face, a play by David Henry Hwang, in New York. Photo: AP

From left: Sydney Beers, Christopher Nave, Scott Ellis, Francis Jue, David Henry Hwang, and Daniel Dae Kim attend the Tony Awards “Meet the Nominees” event in New York. Photo: AFP

Kim and his wife Mia at the Gold Gala, at the Music Centre in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP

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Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Ka-fai (centre) hands the Golden Mulberry award for Lifetime Achievement to filmmaker Tsui Hark (right) at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy in 2025. Photo: Alice BL Durigatto

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Arts

Entertainment

Daniel Dae Kim, the first Asian Tony Award nominee for best leading actor in a play, and David Henry Hwang talk being a force for change


Daniel Dae Kim, the first Asian Tony Award nominee for best leading actor in a play, and David Henry Hwang talk being a force for change.


United States

Daniel Dae Kim makes Tony Awards history, pushes Asian representation on Broadway

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Daniel Dae Kim, the first Asian Tony Award nominee for best leading actor in a play, and David Henry Hwang talk being a force for change

Daniel Dae Kim, the first Asian Tony Award nominee for best leading actor in a play, and David Henry Hwang talk being a force for change