Daniel Dae Kim is beginning a new chapter. Kim made headlines about his exit, alongside Grace Park, from Hawaii Five-0 after contract and salary talks broke down between the actors and CBS. Now Kim is behind the scenes of ABC's The Good Doctor and looking to the future.
CBS's Thom Sherman and Kelly Kahl addressed Kim and Park's exits at the CBS TCA panel. Kim said he was grateful for what they said.
"That was a really important part of my life for seven years and I'm really grateful to CBS…for giving me that opportunity…" Kim said during the 2017 TCA Summer Press Tour. "That said, it's possible to be grateful for the opportunity and be respectful…and still maintain a steadfast sense of your self-worth. All good things come to an end. And I closed that chapter on Hawaii Five-0."
At CBS's TCA day, the bosses deflected questions.
"Not going to talk specifics of the deal or negotiation. We love both those actors and did not want to lose them," Kahl told the press. "We made very, very strong attempts to keep them and offered them a lot of money to stick around. We wanted them to stick around. It's an unfortunate byproduct of having a long running series…we didn't want it to happen, we tried our darndest to keep them."
Ian Anthony Dale, Meaghan Rath, Beulah Koale were added as series regulars to Hawaii Five-0 for the upcoming season eight.
Kim is executive producing The Good Doctor alongside executive producer David Shore of House fame. Kim saw the original Korean version of the show and thought it'd be a hit for American audiences.
"I love the message of it," he said.
"I'm really content being behind the scenes on this show…I'm constantly impressed by the performances I see as a fellow actor," he said about his time behind the scenes.
Could we see him in front of the camera? That's a possibility.
"At some point I would love to play with them…Right now, we're working on the first few episodes and getting them up and running," he said.
The Good Doctor premieres Monday, Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. on ABC.