With The Hot Zone: Anthrax airing over three nights starting Sunday, November 28 at 9/8c on National Geographic, and also streaming on Hulu, I recently got to speak with Daniel Dae Kim about making the scientific thriller. Based on true events, the limited series takes place a few weeks after the 9/11 attacks, when someone mailed letters containing anthrax to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York. The series follows a team of FBI agents and scientists as they try and figure out who was responsible for the attack.

If you don’t remember the time after 9/11, or you weren’t born yet, the series does a good job capturing how nervous everyone was in the weeks after the attack, wondering what might happen next, and if something much worse than 9/11 was on the horizon. So, when the anthrax letters started killing people, it caused widespread fear throughout the country and every section of our government was on high alert to prevent another terrorist attack. The Hot Zone: Anthrax stars Daniel Dae Kim as an FBI agent with a specialty in microbiology, Tony Goldwyn as Dr. Bruce Ivins (a brilliant microbiologist), Dawn Olivieri, Ian Colletti, Dylan Baker, Morgan Kelly, Denyce Lawton, Carlos Gonzalez-Vio, Vanessa Matsui, Enrico Colantoni as Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Harry Hamlin as NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw. Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson served as executive producers and showrunners.

The Hot Zone Anthrax Daniel Dae Kim
Image via NatGeo

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During the interview, Daniel Dae Kim talks about what he learned from real FBI agents who were active during that time, what it was like playing someone desperate to find out what’s happening but doesn’t have the time to deal with his own PTSD from the 9/11 attacks, what people would be surprised to learn about the making of the series, how the series captures that nervous energy of the time after 9/11, how he likes to get ready for a really emotional scene, and more. In addition, he talks about what it’s like going from voicing an animated character on Avatar: The Last Airbender to now playing Fire Lord Ozai on the Netflix live-action series.

Watch what he had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.

Daniel Dae Kim

  • We reminisce about G-Force and Starblazers.
  • If someone has never seen anything he’s done what is the first thing he wants them watching and why?
  • What is it like going from voicing an animated character on Avatar: The Last Airbender to now playing Fire Lord Ozai on the Netflix live-action series?
  • How Hot Zone: Anthrax captures the time after 9/11 when everyone was nervous what would happen next.
  • How he’s playing someone desperate to find out what’s happening but doesn’t have the time to deal with his own PTSD from the 9/11 attacks.
  • What he learned from real FBI agents about 9/11.
  • What would people be surprised to learn about the making of the series?
  • How does he like to prepare for a really emotional or dramatic scene?
  • What was it like doing his scenes with Tony Goldwyn in the final few episodes?
Daniel Dae Kim The Hot Zone Anthrax
Image via NatGeo