Lost's Daniel Dae Kim Teases Season Six: 'Maybe Jin and Sun Won't Get Back Together'

Which development in Jin's arc was the most satisfying for you?

I think Jin's ability to speak English was a big turning point for him. Before that, he was really limited in the interactions he could have with the other Islanders. Once he learned how to speak English, his character took on other dimensions, and I was really, really grateful for that.

Before Jin learned English, was it challenging to you to do so much acting with so little dialogue?

You know, they say that acting is all about reacting, and I really found that to be the case. I found myself listening with my whole body. When you're in another country and you're trying to glean any bit of information, you will use every part of your physicality to try to communicate an idea or understand what a person is saying. I realized how much nonverbal communicating we do without thinking about it, and that was a great lesson to learn.

It can be a powerful storytelling technique when you can't use dialogue. Maybe the Jin and Sun romance is all the more resonant because so much of it is communicated through nonverbal looks.

I think that's true. I think our show takes advantage of that by giving us a lot of close-ups that can communicate things that our mouths may not.

Were there any things you learned about Jin that surprised you or you worried about playing?

Yeah, I guess in season one, where it turned out that he had a problem with Michael. There were kind of some racist undertones to his character that I really was surprised by, you know? That was something that I grappled with for a little while and accepted eventually as part of Jin's journey. He had to be accepting of outsiders in general.

And there have been a lot of outsiders cycled into Lost's cast in the form of new characters. Do you help them or haze them?

I've found that there is an adjustment period for actors who are new to the show. They're a little bit dazed -- they have to get their bearings from the physical move and the move of being on a show like ours. If I sense that they could use a hand here or there, not just with creative or logistical things to do with the show, but with where to get a burger or something, I like to offer. I would have appreciated it when I was in their shoes.

Meanwhile, you've also rotated a lot of people out of the cast. Who have you missed when you're not working with them?

That's a really good question. I'm good friends with Josh Holloway, Harold Perrineau and Dom Monaghan, and a lot of them have come and gone, so I miss them when they're not on set. At the same time, there isn't anyone I'm uncomfortable with and we all enjoy working together, so that's a big plus.

Will you be watching this last run of episodes with your castmates? I know you all used to get together and watch them at each others' houses in season one.

We did. We were a very close-knit group in season one -- we all had moved to the island together and given up our respective homes in LA. We had each other for companionship on and off-set, but now in season six, we've all become part of the community to varying degrees. We've got other friends as well as the cast members. We'll see how it goes in season six. We'll see.

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