Daniel Dae Kim's kids had to explain 'zaddy' to him: 'They're happy I don't look like an old man'
Even with that jawline, he was adorably clueless.
Daniel Dae Kim's kids had to define "zaddy" for him after he encountered what he thought was a typo.
The 55-year-old actor addressed his "zaddy" status — which is bestowed upon attractive and charming men — on Thursday's episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show after the host pulled up a tweet about him that featured the term.
"The first time I saw that, I thought it must be a typo," Kim said. "I don't know why there's a Z in front of there," he said. "I heard it on the internet — that was the first time. And then my kids told me, 'Oh, it kind of means this and that,' and I was like, 'Oh.'"
Hudson also brought up Kim making the list of PEOPLE's Sexiest Men Alive twice, first in 2005 then again in 2021. What do his adult sons, Zander and Jackson, think about that title?
"I'm always 'Dad' to them," Kim said. "I make dad jokes around the house and they roll their eyes, but I actually do think they're happy that I don't look like an old man — that I still could make that list."
"It didn't change my life in any way. I still have to take out the garbage," Kim said of receiving the honor. "But I like what it meant representationally."
Of snagging the title in 2005, he said, "I felt like it was one small step for me, one large step for Asian American men. At that time, there weren't that many men who look like me who were in a list like that. Nowadays, with K-pop and K-dramas, there's a lot more awareness of Korea."
Kim currently stars in Netflix's live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series as Fire Lord Ozai, who has also been hailed as a zaddy by the internet.
The Lost alum recently delighted fans by reading thirst tweets for the streamer, including one that pondered, "What elder god did Daniel Dae Kim pledge his soul to get such a geometry-defining jawline?"
Check out Kim's thirst tweets below and his interview with Hudson above.
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