The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 71

THE RECORD YT-9 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1997 A storyteller's slow climb sin (Bruce Willis) skilled at disguises. In a November episode of "NYPD Blue," Kim had another active adventure. His character, Simon Lee, is a wealthy suburbanite who pleads with his father to leave his grocery store in a dangerous New York neighborhood. After his father is murdered, the son posts a $5,000 bounty, pesters the police, and interferes with their investigation by interviewing the drug-addicted mother of a suspect. Kim responds by refusing roles with few challenges and many prejudices.

One reason he enjoyed "NYPD Blue" is his charac ter's behavior was fairly universal. Simon Lee "was a bad person, but he was not bad because he was an Asian person," Kim says. "It was an American story." Kim sees hopeful signs. The doctor he's played in two episodes of "Beverly Hills 90210" has an Italian name. His character in a yet-to-be-filmed romantic comedy is known less for being Asian than for being newly married in a circle of marriage debaters.

"If I can't have control over" losing jobs to stereotyping, "I pretty much have to let it go," Kim says. "You do the best with what you have. You strive to control your environment better." and their newborn, Zandor. "Inasmuch as I love the theater," he says, "I also love making a living." So, in January, Kim took the biggest step. He moved to Los Angeles, capital of dreams exceeded and obliterated.

The move paid dividends. In nine months Kim has landed recurring roles on "Law and Order" and "Beverly Hills 90210." "See, I may not be a doctor," he says, laughing, "but I play one on TV." Recently, Kim has appeared in his best roles. In "The Jackal," a remake of the 1973 movie, he plays a Marine assisting an Irish terrorist (Richard Gere) freed from prison to intercept an assas University's Tiach School of the Arts, a laboratory with a btrong track record. There, ho learned to act with "a sense of fun and joy and play." In his third-year elective project he staged his dilemmas. "Split," a solo piece, addressed the occupational conflict with his parents, being an American minority, and pursuing a demanding profession while contemplating marriage.

This piecemeal life didn't pay enough for Kim, his wife, Mia, anything but act. His only stage character was in "Hurvoy." Kim began college majoring in political science. Appearing in a play as a sophomore persuaded him to add theater as a specialty. Summering at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center In Wuter-ford, digesting Shake- speare with that memorable King Lear, Morris Carnovsky, made acting a calling. In 1993, Kim began a master's program in acting at New York ByCEOFFCEHMAN Knight Rkkto NowsServka Behind the hundHome doctor on "Beverly Hills 90210," the grenade-currying Marine in "The Juckal," and the raciut vigilante in "NYPD Blue" is an actor named Daniel Dae Kim, a storyteller who would like nothing better than to play Honry V.

"Honestly, I think there are a lot of great stories out there," says Kim, 29, from his home in West Hollywood, Calif. "To be a storyteller in any field is a real gift. I don't want to get too deep, but the natura of telling a story can be underestimated. In Kim's favor are striking looks and competitive training in everything from Shakespeare to tae kwon do. In his way is the TV and film roller-coaster, a ride that can be especially bumpy for a young Asian performer.

In high school in Bethlehem, Kim was most likely to do dla7 safle of the year! Our foBgg Wednesday, December 17 only! From Page YT-1 Paul has trouble containing his urge to comfort the baby, but pXq) Save with Instant Bonus Dollars and save ocpain when you add ajjf II IIK' il Hill re's how it Save $50 to $400 throughout the store when you use your Instant Bonus Dollars! And we'll give you an additional Jamie is determined. "All new parents go through some version of this," says Reiser, the father of a toddler boy. "I remember sort of doing both in our house. Let's try to be religious about this Let's not." The entire episode unfolds outside the bedroom door, as Jamie, stopwatch in hand, times the intervals at which they can go in to verbally console their wailing daughter. Although, as Reiser notes, this may sound "woefully uneventful" on paper, the end result is quite involving.

As Jamie and Paul count the minutes, they argue, make awkward conversation, and, given the differences in their parenting styles (as well as those of their parents), ponder the possi-, bility that they're incompatible. There are also some bizarre and surprising revelations such as Jamie's offhanded comment that she'd recently won 500 pounds of rigatoni at the supermarket, and Paul's admission that he'd rather raise his daughter in the suburbs. The comic highlight comes when Paul and Jamie discover a potential land mine Murray has inadvertently gotten locked in the bedroom with the baby. Paul is assigned to crawl into the bedroom on his belly, and get Murray to crawl back out with him. Their timing is amazing.

"It surprised me, too, because the dog doesn't really appreciate the concept of a one-take show, so we were thrilled that he did it right," Reiser says. "We were working on our lines, and he was working on his little belly crawl." The rehearsal period for tonight's episode was no different than usual, but the day of the filming, there were two practice runs in the afternoon. Then, the audience was brought in. "We started at 7 and we were done at 7:25. Usually, we're there from 7 to 10 p.m.," Reiser says.

"We actually did just one take." Reiser believes that "Mad About You" has successfully steered clear of becoming a "baby-driven" sitcom this season. "You haven't seen the baby much, and here's a show where you don't see the baby at all," he says. "We're trying to be true to the reality of having a baby, but we've done some very funny stories this year that had nothing to do with the baby." In tonight's episode, Paul Buchman reveals that he didn't enjoy growing up in New York City, where, as a kid, he was always running from something or someone. One wonders if that's how Reiser, a Greenwich Village native, truly remembers his childhood. "Not necessarily running, but you certainly knew to keep your eyes darting around," he says.

"When you're on 14th Street, you know you're not in a field." Jamie, meanwhile, hates the thought of raising Mabel in culture-less suburbia, and fears that her daughter would be "educated in the malls of Paramus." But a suburban move is a down-the-road option, Reiser says. "That might be something that the series ends with, when they decide they're gonna have a big change of life," he says. And how far away might that grand finale be? "Helen and I are committed to the show for this year, and we both have been very in sync about when we'd want to end it," Reiser says. "We said we'd go as long as the show is fun and the quality is being maintained. After the new year, we're gonna sit down and discuss it amongst ourselves." 0) inni on the value of your Instant Bonus Dollars! ii tin mi it -'VW lift MM MM ft MM (Ml Call 1 -808-400-2829 toll free for a Levitz store near you.

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