Fastfive with Daniel Henney

1. MODEL START

This 34-year-old credits his hunky looks to good genes inherited from his Irish-American dad and Korean mum.

Being physically attractive helped open doors to modelling which became "a stepping stone" to a showbiz career, the US actor told M on the phone from Los Angeles.

2. VOICE WORK

Henney is proud to be part of Big Hero 6, Disney's latest animation film that has already made more than US$148 million (S$192 million) worldwide since it opened on Nov 6.

Henney voices Tadashi Hamada, the older brother of protagonist Hiro (Ryan Potter). Tadashi is the creator of the state-of-the-art marshmallow-y robot Baymax, designed and built to be a health-care companion that helps millions worldwide.

While Henney has voiced countless Korean commercials, he said this was his first time voicing an animated character.

"It was a really fun process," said Henney. "I hope to get to do more such jobs."

3. EMBRACING DIVERSITY

Henney appreciated that Big Hero 6 features diverse races such as Asian-American, Latino and African-American, as it shows Hollywood is embracing other cultures.

"It used to be hard to get jobs in Hollywood, being an Asian-American," said Henney. "Now that we are getting the parts, we have a lot more to prove, (that) we are just as good."

4. PREFERRED GENRE

While Henney is often cast in action movies, his biggest role being the mutant Agent Zero in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, he said his preferred genre is comedy - rom-coms in particular.

He said: "Rom-coms are really fun and comfortable. I don't think I can do live comedy though, like in sitcoms and on stage."

5. SECOND HOME

Henney, who found his break in 2005 playing a doctor in Korean TV series My Lovely Sam Soon, has a production company in Korea.

Besides working on TV series and talent development in Seoul, he is also highly sought-after by Korean companies to be the face of their brands.

While commuting between two countries every month "is tiring", Henney said: "I'll go anywhere that work calls me."

FACTFILE

NAME: Daniel Phillip Henney

BORN: Nov 28, 1979, in Michigan, US

FILMOGRAPHY: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Shanghai Calling (2012), The Last Stand (2013), Big Hero 6 (2014)

This article was first published on Nov 19, 2014.
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