‘The Good Doctor’: Why Daniel Dae Kim Was Nervous to Act Again

The Good Doctor‘s new episode featured the return of former Hawaii Five-0 actor Daniel Dae Kim, who was surprisingly nervous to act in front of the camera after being away from television acting for almost two years.

In “Risk And Reward,” St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose finally welcomes a new Chief of Surgery after Dr. Marcus Andrews’ (Hill Harper) failed attempt to be both President of the hospital and Chief of Surgery. Andrews brought in Dr. Jackson Han, played by Kim, who is instantly troubled by the autistic Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) taking on major surgeries.

Although Kim is an executive producer on The Good Doctor, he told Entertainment Weekly he was nervous about being in front of the camera because it meant having to bring showrunner David Shore’s writing to life.

“I know the quality of David Shore’s writing and I wanted to do it justice,” Kim explained. “I also wanted to be a good scene partner to all my fellow actors and people that I’d known in a producing capacity, so I wanted to service the show. Because of that, I felt a little bit more butterflies in my stomach than I expected.”

Surprisingly, Freddie Highmore eased Kim’s concerns. “Risk and Reward” is Highmore’s first episode as director, and he also serves as a producer.

“I actually really enjoyed the fact that my first episode was directed by a [member] of the family,” Kim continued. “It was nice because I’d known everyone and some as friends, but now to work with [Highmore] as a member of the ensemble, it was even more special because Freddie was at the helm.”

For his part, Highmore said working with a seasoned veteran like Kim helped him as a director.

“We all knew him incredibly well, and there was that easiness when being on set with him of not needing to get to know someone but immediately being on the same page,” the former Bates Motel actor told EW.

Kim last appeared on television as Detective Chin Ho Helly on CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 in 2017. He played the role for seven seasons, but left after he and co-star Grace Park could not reach a contract extension with CBS. Meanwhile, Park was busy trying to bring the South Korean drama The Good Doctor to the U.S. It was first developed at CBS, but the eye network passed and Kim took it to ABC.

Once Shore, best known for creating House, came onboard, Kim’s dreams for The Good Doctor came true. The show has been so successful at ABC that it was already renewed for a third season.

Fans had been eagerly waiting for Kim to appear on the show, and St. Bonaventure’s need for a Chief of Surgeon was the perfect window.

“We wanted it to be organic to the show and not just stunt casting. If it moved the storyline forward in some way or presented an interesting option for the character then we thought that’s when we’ll do it,” Kim explained to EW. “It happened to fit my schedule availability-wise and there was a natural storyline.”

The Good Doctor airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: ABC/David Bukach