Daniel K. Isaac

Last updated
Daniel K. Isaac
Born (1988-12-05) December 5, 1988 (age 37)
Fullerton, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer

Daniel K. Isaac is an American actor and writer. He is known for his recurring role as Ben Kim in Showtime's Billions . [1] [2] Isaac is also known for creating the hashtag #AccordingToMyMother, which he uses to share comedic conversations between him and his mother. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Isaac's parents are immigrants from Korea. His mother raised him in California as a single parent, and he grew up bilingual. Isaac is an only child. [4] He received his bachelor's degree in theater from the University of California, San Diego. [5]

Career

In 2015, Isaac created the hashtag #AccordingToMyMother to share comedic conversations with his mother. [4] He then started a Kickstarter campaign to finance a short film loosely based on their relationship. Isaac produced and starred in what became a television pilot, According to My Mother, with Cathy Yan and Devin Landin. [6] It premiered at the New York Television Festival in October 2016 and won the award for Best Drama. Isaac was named Best Actor in a Drama for his performance. [6]

Isaac has appeared in the role of Ben Kim in Billions since its premiere in 2016. [1] [2] The role was initially written to be to a three-episode part, but the writers ended up making the character a series regular the first two seasons. Isaac also stars as a bike courier with a foot fetish in the BDSM-focused web series Mercy Mistress, produced by Margaret Cho. [7]

He portrayed William Inge in an off-Broadway production of Philip Dawkins' The Gentleman Caller in May 2018. [8]

Isaac appeared in a recurring role as Jeremy Delongpre in the first season of the 2019 Comedy Central series The Other Two . [9] He also played the role of "Sandwich Artist" in the May 22, 2022 Episode (#251) of the HBO series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver .

In 2022, Isaac made his play-writing debut with Once Upon a (Korean) Time, which was produced by the Ma-Yi Theatre Company and performed at the historic La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City. The production was directed by Ralph Peña. [10] Also in 2022, it was announced that Isaac would star in the comedy film Plan B, alongside Jon Heder, Tom Berenger, and Shannon Elizabeth. [11]

Personal life

Isaac is gay. [4] He voluntarily participated in gay conversion therapy from the age of 13 to 16. [12] [3] His mother, a devout Christian, disowned him for his sexuality when he was a freshman in college. Isaac later embraced his sexuality. [12]

Credits

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2011 Too Big To Fail TranslatorTV movie
2016 Money Monster Male Raver
2016Urban Teach NowVincentTV movie
2016Eugenia and JohnDan Eisenberg
2016DrewNoahTV movie
2017Maggie BlackDelivery Guy
2020 The Dark End of the Street Keith
2021 The Drummer Mike
2025 Outerlands Emile

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2011KelseyTyrone
2014BelieveLab TechEpisode: Pilot
2014 Person of Interest Virgil2 episodes
2014–15 Mr. Right Justin
2015 The Following ParamedicEpisode: Dead or Alive
2015Dog ParkJacob Hart
2016 The Jim Gaffigan Show FoshayEpisode: No Good Deed: Part 3
2016 Search Party BaristaEpisode: The Return of the Forgotten Phantom
2016–23 Billions Ben Kim55 episodes [13]
2017Quiet Tiny AsianBoyfriend
2017 Crashing Korean ManEpisode: Barking
2017Don't Shoot the MessengerMichaelEpisode: Episode #1.6
2018Ollie & Molly Can't Get ArrestedRyan2 episodes
2018PuffyGordonMini series
2018–19Mercy MistressKen9 episodes
2019 The Other Two Jeremy Delongpre2 episodes
2019Indoor BoysWalker Web series, 3 episodes
2019 The Deuce Dr. LeeEpisode: Episode #3.5
2024 Elsbeth Lieutenant Steve Connor7 episodes [14]

Theater

YearTitleRoleVenueLevel of Production
2009Miss ElectricityFreddy La Jolla Playhouse Regional
2013Shalom ShanghaiSuzuki Shanghai International Arts Festival International
2015UnderlandTaka 59E59 Theaters Off-Broadway
2016 Sagittarius Ponderosa Owen3LD Art and Technology Center
2017 The Ballad of Little Jo Tin Man Wong Two River Theater Regional
2018The Chinese LadyAtung Barrington Stage Company Regional [13] [2]
2018The Gentleman CallerWilliam IngeAbingdon Theatre
2018The Chinese LadyAtung Beckett Theater Off-Broadway [13] [2]
2022Once Upon a (Korean) TimePlaywright La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Off-Broadway [13]
2022You Will Get Sick#1 Laura Pels Theatre Off-Broadway [15] [13]
2023Every Brilliant ThingNarrator Geffen Playhouse

References

  1. 1 2 Feldman, Dana. "'Billions' Recap: This Week's Episode Brings Both 'Redemption' And A Striptease". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Soloski, Alexis (February 24, 2022). "An actor who cedes the spotlight while quietly commanding it". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Meet the Logo30: Daniel K. Isaac | NewNowNext". www.newnownext.com. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  4. 1 2 3 Nichols, James Michael (2015-05-16). "This Guy's Mom Doesn't Approve Of His Sexuality. His Response Is Awesome". HuffPost. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  5. ↑ "A Gay Actor and His Born-Again Christian Korean Mother Connect in 'According to My Mother'". IndieWire. 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  6. 1 2 "Indie Pilots 'According to My Mother,' 'Poor Todd' Take New York Television Festival Prizes". Variety. 2016-10-30. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  7. ↑ "We're Head Over Heels for This Queer BDSM Web Series". them.us. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  8. ↑ Collins-Hughes, Laura (2018-05-26). "Review: In The Gentleman Caller, a Talky Tennessee Williams". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  9. ↑ "'The Other Two' Explains Why Bottoms Don't Eat on Dates". www.advocate.com. 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  10. ↑ "ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME".
  11. ↑ "Jamie Lee & Jon Heder Topline Comedy 'Plan B' for Joke Zero and Future Proof Films". 16 July 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Daniel K. Isaac Is Opting For The Gray Area | Death, Sex & Money". Slate. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Haun, Harry (September 6, 2022). "Daniel K. Isaac brings a Korean epic, full of fairy tales and history, to the La MaMa stage". Observer. Archived from the original on September 6, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  14. ↑ Quihuiz, Ariana; Comiter, Jordana (October 12, 2025). "Meet the real-life loves of the Elsbeth cast (including the actors whose partners have gust starred!)". People. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  15. ↑ Jesse Green (November 6, 2022). "Review: You Will Get Sick Tells the Untellable, for a Price". The New York Times . Retrieved November 26, 2022.
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