Daniel Dae Kim reaches the ‘late’ milestone with new TV role

A multitude of entertainment luminaries are congratulating veteran TV star and executive producer Daniel Dae Kim for a milestone that many believe is “long overdue” and “so deserved”.

On Wednesday, National Geographic announced that Kim and “Scandal” alumnus Tony Goldwyn were scheduled to star in the second season of their suspense anthology “The Hot Zone”. And on Twitter, actor Kim from “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0” celebrated the cast’s update with a surprising fact:

“Hardly the biggest news, considering what’s going on in the world today,” he tweeted. “But after 31 years of working on TV, this is my first protagonist in the series.”

Screenwriters, entertainment journalists and other actors were quick to applaud Kim, who captivated audiences as the survivor of Flight 815 Jin-Soo Kwon on ABC’s long series “Lost”, before becoming known as Lieutenant Detective Chin Ho Kelly in the thunderous CBS police drama “Hawaii Five-0”.

Since then, Kim has appeared on other TV projects, including “Flack”, “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” and ABC’s medical drama “The Good Doctor”, which he is also an executive producer.

“30 years late,” tweeted “Crazy Rich Asians” screenwriter Adele Lim. “I can’t wait !!!”

“Ahh!” tweeted “Late Night With Seth Meyers” writer Karen Chee, along with some celebratory party hat emojis. “This is VERY well deserved !!!!”

“Kim’s Convenience” actress Jean Yoon pointed out that the announcement occurred on January 13, Korean-American day, “nothing less”, which Kim called “a beautiful coincidence”.

“Happy #KoreanAmericanDay!” he added.

The next chapter of “The Hot Zone”, entitled “Anthrax”, will star Kim as Matthew Ryker, an FBI agent specializing in microbiology. Set immediately after 9/11, the new season will see Kim’s character team up with microbiologist Bruce Ivins (Goldwyn) to track down and unmask the 2001 anthrax killer.

“Tony and Daniel are wonderfully versatile and dimensional actors who will bring complexity and depth to these characters,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president for scripted films and documentaries at National Geographic, in a statement. “We can’t wait for your star to become this amazing, authentic and up-to-date scientific thriller.”

“Anthrax” follows the intense first season of the drama Nat Geo, which starred Emmy winner Julianna Margulies as a veterinary pathologist struggling to contain the spread of Ebola. The production of the second season of “The Hot Zone” is scheduled to begin this winter in Toronto.

Here is a sampling of social media reactions to Kim’s cast.