Taking on the King of Siam

By Genevieve Hassan
Entertainment reporter, BBC News

Daniel Dae Kim is starring in The King and I at London's Royal Albert Hall

"People think that everyone who plays this role should be bald when in fact, the king himself was not bald - it was only Yul Brynner who was bald," says actor Daniel Dae Kim.

The Lost star is in London taking on the role of the King of Siam in a £3 million production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic The King and I, while his hit US TV show is on a summer hiatus.

But Kim is aware that Brynner's performance in the 1956 film adaptation became so iconic that he set the standard for all actors who followed him.

"I am bound to be compared to other people who have played the king, but I will bring something different to it," he says defiantly.

"It always makes me laugh that in productions of the King and I, every single person who played the king either shaved their head or put on a bald cap and I thought if that's not a lasting testament to the work of one actor then I don't know what is."

Dream role

Maria Friedman stars as governess Anna Leonowens in the musical

Best known for his role as Korean-speaking character Jin Kwon in Lost, many will be surprised to discover the 40 year old received his acting training on the stage and has performed Shakespeare, Beckett and Chekhov.

Although he has never starred in a musical before, nor sung professionally, the star says he chose The King and I for his London stage debut because he missed treading the boards - and is a huge Rodgers and Hammerstein fan.

"I was looking around for the right opportunity and this one came along," he says.

"This is a dream role - for an Asian American man there aren't many roles that are written for us where we play royalty, where we are leaders."

Kim has been preparing to be the king for some time. Apart from renting a karaoke room to sing his heart out on occasion, he flew his drama school singing teacher out to Hawaii (where he lives while filming Lost) to give him tips on vocal warm-ups - a pretty good gig by anyone's standards.

"She might have said no if it was somewhere like Iowa," he jokes.

Lost ending

"I could say what I want... I might not have a job the next day - but I could!" Daniel Dae Kim

Even though he has vast stage experience under his belt, the star admits he still suffers from first night nerves, but hopes "with any luck that that will be coupled with excitement and gratitude".

He also has friends and cast mates from Lost flying over from America to see one of his only 20 appearances, which will be performed in-the-round.

So no pressure there, then.

The TV series is about to enter its sixth and final season which fans hope will explain all the mysteries behind the island that the passengers from Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on.

As someone who was born in South Korea and moved to the US with his family when he was aged two, Kim sees his role of Jin as a way of connecting back to his roots.

"I've never had the chance to speak Korean to this degree in a role before," he says, adding that he auditioned for the role speaking his parents' native tongue.

Kim's lines in Lost are written in English before being translated into Korean

"The script is written in English - there's someone who does the translation first and then we take the dialogue and change it to be as colloquial as possible."

With the show's producers reliant on Kim's knowledge of Korean, the star could have a bit of fun with what he says on screen.

"I could say what I want," he says, "I might not have a job the next day - but I could!"

So how will it all end? Does Kim know? Do the scriptwriters even know?

"They have an idea how it ends and as we get closer it obviously needs to get more specific," Kim says without giving anything away.

"I have a general idea of some things, but this whole process is very malleable and things change on the way - so even though I may have some idea, it may be very different to when it comes to actually shooting."

The King and I is at the Royal Albert Hall until 28 June. Lost returns to UK TV screens in early 2010 on Sky1.