Gia Kim is a series regular on Netflix original XO, Kitty.
From creator Jenny Han, XO, Kitty is about the trials and tribulations of young Kitty Song-Covey, played by Anna Cathcart. Kitty and her teenage friends must grapple with romance, heartbreak, schoolwork, and everything in between.
XO, Kitty Season 2 dropped on January 16.
Biography Details on Gia Kim - Age, Filmography & More
Gia Kim Grew up All Over the World
32-year-old Gia Kim (born November 4, 1992) was quite the globe-trotter during her formative years. Speaking to ArcaMax, the actress detailed her upbringing, jumping between South Korea, Hong Kong and more:
"I was born in Seoul. My first experience living outside of Korea was when I was five and we moved to Indonesia. When I was six or seven, I came back to Korea. I was in Hong Kong from eight to 13. And then from 13 to 17, I was back in Korea. I was in Hong Kong until I was 22 and I finished uni there. Then I was in Beijing after Hong Kong, New York for my early 20s, back to Korea in my mid 20s, and then I came to Los Angeles when I was 27. Now I’m back and forth between Korea and L.A."
Kim also lived in Denmark and Greece during her college years, in part for a component of her final project in her journalism studies:
"I did my semester exchange in Denmark. I was studying journalism at the time. I was going around looking for stories and interviewing people and shooting clips, and the weather was always bad [when I was there]. But it was also an amazing experience. For our final project, we could shoot our 30-minute documentary on any topic. We decided to go to Crete and cover the financial crisis that was happening in Greece at the time. It was an excuse to enjoy Crete and have a bit of vacation. The weather was so nice and it was just such a lovely experience. We were there during Ramadan and they cooked a whole goat for us."
Gia Trained at the Art of Acting Studio
Although she cut her teeth in the acting game in South Korean theaters, Gia Kim traveled to Los Angeles, California to pursue training at Art of Acting Studio in 2019. Just a short time later, she got cast in XO, Kitty. Kim explained the culture shock she experienced upon coming to America to Timid:
"People assumed I grew up [in the States], but I didn’t. So coming here [to America] was also in itself a new learning experience for me because being Korean [in] America is a whole other experience than being Korean from Korea. I always feel like I’m kind of in between those two worlds too [like Yuri]."
Greats like Robert De Niro, Salma Hayek, and Benicio del Toro are notable Art of Acting's LA branch alumni.
Gia’s Casting in XO, Kitty Was a Long Process
In an interview with Schön! Magazine, Kim explained the "excruciating" wait to find out if she was cast on XO, Kitty, noting that the process took about two and a half months:
"It was very long and also felt very long because the waiting was very excruciating. I think from the moment I submitted my self-tape to the day I was finalized for the role, it took two and a half months or so I think. There were the holidays involved and no one was working which meant nothing was in progress and I was dying inside. I was like, oh my god, just tell me already! It was a very long process so it just made it all the more worth it when I did get the part."
In the series, Gia Kim portrays Yuri Han, a classmate of Kitty’s who’s a member of the "in crowd." Pretty, popular, and well-regarded, Yuri also comes out as gay in XO, Kitty’s first season in defiance of her conservative parents.
Interestingly, although her character is a teenager, Gia Kim is actually in her early 30s.
Sang Heon-Lee Is Gia’s Brother in Real Life
Gia Kim’s younger brother is none other than her XO, Kitty co-star Sang Heon-Lee, who plays Min-ho Moon, a one-time item of Kitty Song-Covey’s.
Notably, the siblings have distinct accents, with Heon-Lee speaking with an English accent due to where he went to school. Kim remarked on this to ArcaMax, mentioning how when the two are together, she tends to adopt her brother’s manner of speech:
"It’s been generally American for a while now, but I'm very susceptible to the accents around me as well. When I was living with my roommate in L.A., who’s a valley girl, I started talking like that. But then when I'm with my brother [Sang-heon Lee, who is Kim’s co-star in the 'XO, Kitty' franchise], he has more of this British accent that I kind of adopt, too. I definitely adapt according to who I'm with and where I am."
Gia Is Fluent in Korean & English
Kim is bilingual and can fully converse in English or Korean, her native tongue. Although she confessed to Schön! that her "pronunciation is not very clear in Korean" due to Kim being so accustomed to English:
"Yeah, sometimes I would speak Korean and then feel like my pronunciation is not very clear in Korean. My tongue is used to speaking English. Then, when I’m speaking Korean, the pronunciation part just struggles sometimes. I think Korean requires more of me needing to be more exact with my tongue and oral placement because I’m speaking English most of the time, I would slip up. I usually mix Korean and English anyway because some of my friends are bilingual but sometimes I would get into my head and be like, am I not speaking enough?"
How To Follow Gia Online
Gia Kim can be found on Instagram.
Both seasons of XO, Kitty are streaming on Netflix. Read all about the cast of XO, Kitty Season 2 here.
