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Lost alum Daniel Dae Kim has reminisced about his time on the cultural TV phenomenon that ran for six seasons and aired its epic finale in May 2010.
And 16 years on, Kim admitted there were 'difficulties' behind the scenes on the show, which was shot almost exclusively on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
Speaking to People at the Gold Gala at The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles, the 57-year-old actor said: 'I think there were difficulties on the show - as we've learned - most of which I didn't know at the time.'
There's little doubt he was referring to the controversy surrounding a June 2023 Vanity Fair article, 'Lost Illusions: The Untold Story of the Show's Poisonous Culture,' by Maureen Ryan.
The piece exposed the show's toxic work environment involving bullying, discrimination and the careless use of sexist and racist language in the writers' room.
Co-creator and showrunner Damon Lindelof admitted to author Ryan that he had 'failed' to provide a 'safe' and 'comfortable' workplace but had since 'significantly evolved.'
Lost alum Daniel Dae Kim - seen on May 9 in Los Angeles - reminisced about his time on the cultural TV phenomenon that ran for six seasons and aired its epic finale in May 2010
Kim admitted there were 'difficulties' behind the scenes on the show, referring to a June 2023 Vanity Fair article exposing a toxic workplace environment rife with sexism, racism, discrimination and bullying
However, Kim 'has nothing but affection' for the series, which ran for six successful seasons starting in 2004.
Lost had millions of people tuning in week-to-week, not only for its mystery and slowly progressing clues, character-driven storylines, flashbacks and forwards, but it’s lush island locale.
'I've made lifelong friends through that show,' Kim continued. 'It helped my career in a way that no other job has. Lost really gave me opportunities that no other job had, and I don't think I'd be here today without it.'
Kim told the outlet that he remains on friendly terms with many of his former castmates.
‘Harold Perrineau - I'm in touch with regularly. [Henry] Ian Cusick I'm in touch with regularly. Josh Holloway, I'm in touch with. The raft boys from season one. We bonded over that experience,’ he added, referring to the characters who tried to escape the island on a makeshift raft in the season one finale.
The series finale divided die-hard fans by fusing events on the island with a reality-warping afterlife timeline.
But Kim insisted, 'I cared most about the characters, and the fact that the characters were all together at the end of the series was the thing that mattered most to me.
'And so I found that really satisfying because, as actors, we could say goodbye to each other in those final scenes.'
The 57-year-old actor told People he 'has nothing but affection' for the series, which ran for six successful seasons starting in 2004; pictured in a still from Lost
Lost had millions of people tuning in week-to-week, not only for its mystery and slowly progressing clues, character-driven storylines, flashbacks and forwards, but its lush island locale
'I've made lifelong friends through that show,' said Kim, who remains close to Lost co-stars Harold Perrineau, left, and Josh Holloway, right
The Lost series finale divided die-hard fans but Kim said, 'the fact that the characters were all together at the end of the series was the thing that mattered most to me'; pictured May 14 in New York City
Since Lost, Kim has appeared on the Hawaii Five-O reboot and The Good Doctor, on which he also served as a producer.
He also starred in the Netflix series Avatar: The Last Airbender and Amazon's Butterfly thriller series.
Most recently, he hosted and executive produced the four-part CNN series K-Everything, which is available to stream on HBO Max.
Kim added: 'It's a docuseries about the rise of Korean culture: four episodes, one on K-beauty, one on K-pop, one on K-drama and [one on] K-food.'
English (US) ·