Within the first quarter-hour of Butterfly, viewers could be inside their rights to suppose the brand new South Korea-based spy thriller is a James Bond-esque high-octane present. However Daniel Dae Kim, star and govt producer of the Prime Video sequence, says there are numerous extra layers to peel away as viewers make investments themselves in all six episodes (all of which launched on Wednesday).
From the pages of a graphic novel by Arash Amel, Kim performs former CIA operative David Jung, who a number of years in the past broke away from the company and began a rogue firm with fellow former American spy Juno (performed by Piper Perabo). However one thing went terribly incorrect when, about 9 years in the past, David was out on a mission ordered by Juno: and he and his crew have been ambushed. The entire crew was killed, leaving David because the lone survivor. He performed useless to make it out, after which went off the spy grid. That’s, till now.
With a brand new household, David discovers that Juno’s most dangerous murderer is his oldest daughter, Rebecca, who he left behind on the age of 14 believing that his disappearance would hold her secure. However Rebecca (performed by Reina Hardesty) grows as much as turn into a seemingly heartless killer as a residual impact of David’s disappearance. David decides to return out of hiding in hopes of saving his daughter from the cruel espionage sport that Juno has plunged her into, and when Juno discovers David is alive, she sends his daughter and a crew {of professional} killers out to kill him. The over-arching query of hte sequence turns into one about redemption.
The Hollywood Reporter lately caught up with Kim to debate what drew him to Butterfly, in addition to the wave of Korean content material that’s at the moment sweeping the leisure business how this action-packed, emotional sequence is his love letter to Korea.
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You lately attended San Diego Comedian Con, however for individuals who usually are not aware of the Butterfly graphic novel (created by Arash Amel), what would you inform them about this sequence?
In case you are a fan of the spy action-adventure style, you’re going to really feel proper at house. However for those who’re a fan of relationship dramas, you’ll be pleasantly stunned on the depth of character and relationships. As a result of to us, the motion can solely have stakes and that means if they arrive from an emotional place; that you just care about these characters. We work actually arduous to attempt to infuse our present with each of these issues.
And when you’ve got any curiosity in Korea, our present is a love letter to Korea. We shot in dozens of places all all through South Korea. We put in a wholesome dose of tradition as I do know it as a Korean American.
After being nominated for a Tony Award as the primary Asian nominee within the main male class (for the Broadway manufacturing of Yellow Face, the place Kim portrays the present’s playwright David Henry Hwang), why was now the suitable time to launch this sequence?
Butterfly means loads to me as a result of I’m one of many govt producers and likewise the lead. I used to be concerned with the present since its creation. And whenever you’re concerned from the start, you’re capable of develop the story and undergo each little bit of the method, together with casting, and it takes a bit of little bit of your coronary heart with it. My coronary heart is on this undertaking, so I’m very hopeful that individuals prefer it.
How do you combine your love for appearing on movie and tv with that of your love for the stage? I ask that with the acknowledgment of your current Tony nomination. Do these three realms combine?
I feel they do. Clearly they’re very completely different by way of appearing approach, however the one factor they’ve in widespread is that, as an actor, you possibly can traverse media from movie to TV to stage, after which go the place the very best tales are. Each actor says they wish to go to the place the very best scripts and the very best characters are. Effectively, there’s no scarcity of them in any medium, and so I’m fortunate that I get to travel. I began my profession on stage. So to have the ability to return and work on initiatives in New York is all the time one thing particular.
Have been you born in New York?
No, I used to be born in Korea. I used to be raised in New York and out of doors of Philadelphia. I did my graduate faculty in New York for appearing, and stayed there working as an actor for a few years. All of my coaching is on classical stage; I used to be doing a whole lot of Shakespeare, [Anton Pavlovich] Chekhov and a few experimental theater. Once I take into consideration nice appearing, I all the time take into consideration the stage first.
America is having a love affair with the tv and movie content material popping out of South Korea proper now. There’s Squid Recreation, My Title, Bloodhounds and numerous different sizzling IPs within the U.S. market. How does Butterfly match into that wave?
I feel the reply is in your query. There has by no means been a larger acceptance for Korean content material than proper now. It began perhaps 10 or 15 years in the past, which is why I began desirous to carry Korean dramas to the U.S. That’s why I used to be fascinated by bringing the Good Physician from Korea to America. I believed there was a chance to introduce Korean storytelling to American creators. That was a bridge course of, as a result of at the moment America wasn’t as able to learn Korean or watch Korean dramas straight from the supply. It has modified now although, and I’m so joyful to see the success of films like Parasite and exhibits like Squid Recreation. Now we’re hitting the following step within the evolution the place Korean Individuals are beginning to get into the method of telling their tales, as a result of we’re uniquely suited to inform tales from each America and Korea. That’s what Butterfly is — a narrative about Korean Individuals. We will be the bridge between Korea and America and, on the similar time, inform our personal particular person tales. I’m so glad we’re lastly at a spot in America the place these sorts of tales will be instructed.
I additionally suppose each cultures have an eye fixed for the dramatic. The cinematic and storytelling traditions are comparable in sure methods. And what Korea did was broaden the methods we inform tales. When Park Chan-wook introduced over Previous Boy, that was a storytelling fashion that we hadn’t actually seen earlier than, and we’re all the time in search of one thing that’s distinctive and new. There are such a lot of Korean filmmakers who’re visionary; Bong Joon ho (director of Parasite) amongst them as nicely. They tackle comparable themes and points that we’ve seen in American leisure, however via a barely completely different perspective, and there’s all the time room for that. I feel it applies to Okay-Pop and Okay-Magnificence as nicely, pushing the envelope of know-how, fashion, all in very acquainted kinds. Everybody makes use of make-up and listens to music, however that is one thing distinctive. I really like that Butterfly represents a stage in that evolution.
Daniel Dae Kim in Butterfly.
Prime Video
Diving into Butterfly, did David all the time have an inkling that Juno was attempting to take him out? And what cause would he suppose Juno would have for wanting him gone? Why did he determine to go underground for 9 years?
(Laughs.) I feel he knew that his life was at risk. He knew that Juno was not his good friend any longer. So the query actually was: What would he threat by popping out of hiding, and the way a lot would Juno have a job in attempting to cease him? He finds out all these solutions fairly rapidly.
Why did David determine to go away Caddis, which seems to be a really profitable rogue espionage company shaped by the 2 former CIA members (David and Juno, respectively)?
So many occasions whenever you begin a partnership, individuals develop in several methods, whether or not it’s a wedding or a enterprise relationship. When you take a look at Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, famously these two have been each visionaries, however they’d completely different concepts of what the corporate [Apple] ought to be. That’s what occurred between Juno and David. I feel David realized that the stakes and penalties of the work he was doing have been extremely excessive and harmful. He felt like he had no selection however to exit.
If David hadn’t came upon that his oldest daughter, Rebecca, had turn into this fierce and lethal murderer, do you suppose David would have remained comfy staying hidden together with his new household?
I feel he would have tried. He was attempting to neglect his previous and go away it behind hm. However the truth that his daughter was following in his footsteps via the household enterprise was a bridge too far, particularly underneath the tutelage of somebody like Juno.
In her personal manner, does Juno love Rebecca, too?
I feel she does. Relationships solely work when there’s some type of love felt by all the characters. Their emotional lives are intertwined; so for those who don’t have that, the story turns into much less attention-grabbing. The truth that Rebecca is torn between one true mother or father and a mother or father determine is the guts of the battle on this present.
The are a whole lot of intense motion scenes on this sequence. Let’s speak a bit of bit concerning the rigors of making ready to movie what appears to be some fairly harmful hand-to-hand motion sequences.
I’ve accomplished motion for many of my life. I’ve been athletic all the way down to after I was a child. I took martial arts and performed soccer and tennis, a lot of completely different sports activities. I contemplate myself lucky that even after 30 years within the enterprise I’m nonetheless capable of do motion, and I adore it. I’ll do as a lot because the insurance coverage corporations will let me do (laughs), and I hope I can proceed to take action. There actually was just one stunt within the present that they wouldn’t let me do this I can consider. All the pieces else was me. It prompts me as an actor, and it’s a part of David’s character as nicely.
Inform us a bit extra about your manufacturing firm, 3AD. This isn’t your first undertaking.
My firm has been in existence for the reason that finish of 2013. The primary long-running present we have been part of was The Good Physician, and that ran on ABC for seven seasons. I introduced that over from Korea, as a result of it was a Korean drama and I believed it will make U.S. present. So I used to be capable of remake it with considered one of my companions. Since then, we’ve produced a lot of various things. We did a documentary that was on the Oscar’s shortlist known as Badass. We’re engaged on stage initiatives, together with an Audible undertaking that’s popping out subsequent season. We have now dozens of initiatives in improvement and are actively creating just a few completely different movies, nothing I can announce in the intervening time. It’s a full-time job, this manufacturing firm.
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Butterfly is now streaming all episodes on Prime Video.
