While Hoon Lee has been praised for his portrayal of King Mongkut in the Lincoln Center revival of The King and I, the production will hardly be left in a lurch when he leaves the production later this year. According to the latest gossip news updates, Lost's Daniel Dae Kim will be taking over the titular role May 3, with Inception's Ken Watanabe filling-in in the interim. Although this will be Kim's Broadway debut, the Hawaii Five-O actor has played Mongkut once before in an arena-style production at London's Royal Albert Hall back in 2008.
When asked if he was intimidated to take on the role of King Mongkut in the Lincoln Center revival of The King and I, current lead, Hoon Lee, explained to Blouin Art Info that he focused on character development instead of the pressure that often accompanies taking the spotlight on such a high-profile project:
"I think when you have an iconic role at a time when there aren't many designated leading roles for Asians, there's often a disproportionate amount of weight placed on these roles.
"What that can lead to is a concern to be careful not to put out an image that's too much of its time.
"The key to any of those concerns is to really look for the humanity and specificity in the role and then you find that the character transcends a lot of those concerns."
While Lost alum Daniel Dae Kim didn't get into his acting process in his Instagram post earlier this week, the vetran actor did announce that he would be stepping into the lead role later this summer (via Entertainment Tonight):
A photo posted by Daniel Dae Kim (@danieldaekim) on Jan 20, 2016 at 8:59am PST
"Looks like I know what I'm doing this summer...Wanted to let you all know that I'll be making my #Broadway debut in The King and I at Lincoln Center this May 3 to June 26.
"It will be a limited run, so I hope you guys can make it out.
"It's a truly beautiful production that I'm honored and excited to be a part of. Hope to see you all there!"
Click Here to get your own tickets to the 2016 season of The King and I at the Lincoln Center.
