‘Lost’ Star Daniel Dae Kim Reveals Dream Role Even Though He’s ‘Getting a Bit Old’ for It

Daniel Dae Kim has done it all: medical dramas, espionage thrillers, confusing sci-fi shows. But there’s one dream role he’s never gotten to touch.

The 57-year-old actor, who is currently starring in and producing the new action series Butterfly on Prime Video, shared a desire to do something completely different from what he’s become known for in a new interview with PEOPLE.

“I would love to be a romantic lead,” he said. “Just boy meets girl—but I am getting a bit old for that, so it may be man meets woman.”

The LOST star shared that his wish to play the lead in a romance or romantic comedy is because of the way Asian men have traditionally been portrayed in movies.

“Traditionally in America, someone who looks like me does not get the girl,” he said. “I’m so glad to see that changing. I really hope that’s a barrier that not only our community breaks, but one that I get to participate in breaking.”

It wouldn’t be the first barrier Kim has broken. Earlier this year, he became the first Asian actor nominated for Best Lead Actor at the Tony Awards for his role in the Broadway production Yellow Face. For him, the nomination was a full circle moment, as he “started my career on stage and I started at a time where representation was very different from where it is today.”

“To be nominated for [best lead actor] is a dream come true and a really good metaphor for where we are culturally,” he said. “We’ve made a lot of progress, but there’s still a ways to go… the next step that we have to take, and not just for me, but for all of us, is for an Asian man to win that category.”

Butterfly is streaming now on Prime Video.