Daniel Henney Takes First K-Drama Role In Five Years

Daniel Henney is one of a handful of actors who works in both Korea and the U.S. After landing a role in a spinoff of the American show "Criminal Minds," he was cast in an upcoming k-drama.

It will be his first k-drama in five years.

Henney will appear in the drama "Goodbye Mr. Black" with co-stars Lee Jin Wook, Moon Chae Won and Song Jae Rim. Lee Jin Wook plays a Navy SEAL, who is betrayed by his best friend and denounced as a traitor. He is exiled to another country but returns with a false identity and a fake wife to plot his revenge. Moon Chae Won plays Lee Jin Wook's fake wife. Henney plays Kim Ji Ryun, an advisor to an investment trust company.

The drama was inspired by a manhwa of the same name written by Hwang Mi Na, which in turn was inspired by the French novel "Count of Monte Cristo." The manhwa takes the leading character to Australia and England. That makes sense since Henney's Korean language skills are limited. In past interviews he admits that while he continues to practice Korean, acting in English is still more comfortable for him.

He lent his voice to the character Tadashi Hamada in the Disney film "Big Hero 6," but when the film was dubbed for Korea, the producers chose to hire a voice actor.

"Like a guy who could actually speak the language better than me," he said in an interview with the site Endor Express. "I could have done it but it would have been a lot of work."

Henney did not grow up in Korea and did not even speak any Korean when he was first cast in a k-drama. He was born in Michigan to a Korean adoptee mom. He became a k-drama star when he was cast in "My Lovely Kim Sam Soon" with Hyun Bin and Kim Sun Ah. He played the Korean-American doctor who accompanied Hyun Bin's old girlfriend, played by Jung Ryeo Won from the U.S.

Despite his limited language skills Henney became a star in Korea and did go on to appear in another drama, "The Fugitive: Plan B," and then in Korean and Chinese films. But his American career also took off. He appeared in the films "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and "the Last Stand" as well as several TV shows, including "Three Rivers." In the "Criminal Minds" spin off, "Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders," he was cast as Matt Simmons,  an FBI agent with superior profiling skills and an appreciation of foreign cultures.

"Goodbye Mr. Black" is due to air in early 2016.