Daniel K. Isaac is an American actor and writer. He is known for his frequent role as Ben Kim in Showtime's TV show Billions. Isaac is also known for starting the hashtag #AccordingToMyMother, which he uses to share funny conversations between him and his mother.
Early life and education
Isaac's parents are immigrants from Korea. His mother raised him alone in California and taught him to speak both English and Korean. Isaac is the only child in his family. He earned a bachelor's degree in theater from the University of California, San Diego.
Career
In 2015, Isaac created the hashtag #AccordingToMyMother to share funny conversations with his mother. He later started a Kickstarter campaign to fund a short film inspired by their relationship. Isaac produced and starred in a television pilot called According to My Mother, which featured Cathy Yan and Devin Landin. The pilot premiered at the New York Television Festival in October 2016 and received the Best Drama award. Isaac was named Best Actor in a Drama for his performance.
Isaac has played the role of Ben Kim in the TV show Billions since its debut in 2016. The character was originally planned to appear in only three episodes, but the writers later made him a main character for the first two seasons. Isaac also stars as a bike courier with a foot fetish in the web series Mercy Mistress, which focuses on BDSM themes and was produced by Margaret Cho.
In May 2018, Isaac portrayed William Inge in an off-Broadway production of The Gentleman Caller by Philip Dawkins.
Isaac appeared in a recurring role as Jeremy Delongpre in the first season of the 2019 Comedy Central series The Other Two. 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 wrote his first play, 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. Also in 2022, it was announced that Isaac would star in the comedy film Plan B, alongside Jon Heder, Tom Berenger, and Shannon Elizabeth.
Personal life
Isaac identifies as gay. He chose to take part in gay conversion therapy between the ages of 13 and 16. His mother, who is deeply religious, cut off contact with him when he was a freshman in college because of his sexual orientation. Later in life, Isaac accepted and embraced his sexuality.