‘St. Denis Medical’ Star Kahyun Kim Teases What’s to Come For Serena & Matt

Kahyun Kim has become a fan-favorite on St. Denis Medical as the quick-witted and confident nurse Serena. The NBC mockumentary has been a big network break for the star known for roles in projects such as Cocaine Bear. Continuing the momentum, Kim takes on a different role for the upcoming supernatural thriller Double Exposure., which premieres February 18.

In the movie she plays Lora, who enters a relationship with Peter (Alexander Calvert), a struggling photographer who can’t seem to get over feeling guilty over the loss of his first love Sara (Caylee Cowan), a model who went down a dark road. However, not everything is as it appears in this twisty film written, produced and directed by Howard Goldberg. 

Here Kim opens up about the unique project and the success of St. Denis Medical. 

ST. DENIS MEDICAL — “Pilot” — Pictured: (l-r) Allison Tolman as Alex, Kahyun Kim as Serena — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Double Exposure is kind of a mind you know what. What were your first impressions of the script? 

Kahyun Kim: Yeah, I love mystery, thriller, sci-fi movies. I’ve always been a fan of those. Reading scripts for that kind of genre is always fun and interesting because how you envision it may be different how the director envisions it. It’s not as straightforward in my opinion compared to a lot of other genres. I was just excited to jump into a script and genre I’ve not necessarily done before. 

How did Lora compare to playing Serena on St. Denis? Serena feels more sure of herself. Lora seems a bit more self-conscious. 

First of all, thank you for watching my show and knowing my character. That’s so kind. It’s like people are watching. That’s so exciting. They are different for sure. Lora is more like a settled woman. I do think she is confident in her own way, but I think that is due to the circumstance with the relationship that makes her not confident. I think she is a confident person, which makes it more heartbreaking. I think there are some similarities, but I think Serena is a lot more fun. The life of the party. 

Double Exposure

What do you think about this love triangle in the movie where the other woman may or may not be dead? That’s an interesting scenario here. 

It’s funny because it’s a love triangle even though the other person is, spoiler alert, gone and essentially out of the picture. 

You never know though. Is she gone? There are points where you second-guess everything you’re seeing. 

You are very correct. I think Lora feels her presence. She may be gone, but I think people exist through the mind and energy. It’s very much still in Peter, so either way, I think the love triangle is there. I think Lora has a line at one point where it’s how can I compete with someone who isn’t even there. That’s heartbreaking. 

Whether they are alive or not, I think there is the same feeling when someone jumps from this deep committed relationship and goes to the next person. That next person has to deal with that emotional baggage. 

A hundred percent. I mean I don’t want my boyfriend to talk about his exes. I mean I want to know, too. It’s the weird thing where I do want to know. I don’t think this is the case with Peter. You know that feeling of the one who got away? I don’t know if it was his feeling or not. It definitely provides this feeling that she was an anomaly. 

This comes out at a time where you’re enjoying the success of St. Denis Medical. How is it for you to see this comedy resonate the way it has? 

It’s the best. I’m having a blast. It is so fun. I was just at Critics Choice Awards, and I was asked if I was surprised about the show being renewed for Season 2. I was like, “Well, we all have eyes. It’s so good.” No, I’m so grateful. It’s a joke, but not a joke because it’s very good. I am very grateful, especially after the strike and the pandemic where there was a lot of change happening. At the same time, I felt very confident about our show. I felt confident about our cast and crew. The creators are amazing. Our writers are fantastic. I think part of us all kind of knew. I can speak for myself. I had an instinct. It’s so cool to be on a project where while you’re shooting it you’re thinking, “This is good. This is fun.” 

Where were you when you got the news of the renewal? 

I was in bed. It was literally maybe right before the Deadline article dropped. Everyone was like, “Did you know?” We all found out like literally when everyone did. I was just really calm. I was like, “Of course, it happened.” A couple days later it sunk in and felt like the best thing ever. 

You mention being at Critics Choice. How was it for you to see the show be so critically acclaimed right out of the gate? A show that has only been on the air for really a handful of episodes. 

It’s so cool we were nominated for Best Comedy in a category with so many good shows. We were so early on when we got nominated. I think they aired maybe five episodes. We knew it was good, but it was just so early. We are very grateful. David [Alan Grier] was nominated as well. He is just fantastic. I love working with him, so I was happy to see him get nominated. It was very well deserved. 

What can you tell us about what’s to come for Serena? Her and Matt are in this will they, won’t they place on the show. Will this feeling continue through the season? 

I think so. You do have to tune in to watch. It’s so funny because I’m also watching it as an audience member. I hadn’t seen the full episodes until it aired. Mekki [Leeper] and I are very close, but we are also such good friends. So, when we’re shooting, it’s like anything romantic we’re like, “Oh my God!” We’re always joking on set, so anything serious we’re having such a hard time not laughing through it. When I was watching I was thinking, “Wow, I really shipped that relationship.” Even though I’m the one playing in it. I mean there is a lot that’s going to happen. I can tease that. 

How was it getting into character and playing this nurse? 

We have great nurses who help us and give us medical advice on set to make it as real as it can be. I think that it is very important to be authentic and serve the people in the field. When we met with medical professionals, I remember Allison [Tolman] told them, “You are the people we do it for. You watching makes us happy.” I learn a lot, but I’m also happy medical professionals are appreciated. That field is so hard. My mom works at a hospital in Korea, so I know it’s a tough job. I’m just excited we can also bring the fun into something that can be a dark and hard place to work and be. 

JSquared Photography/NBCUniversal

Any guest star you want to see you want to see show up? 

We’ve had such amazing guest stars. We have amazing guest stars coming up. Just a 10 out of 10. Everyone has been amazing. Now someone did ask who I wanted to work with and what show. The show I love and hope there is some kind of crossover from the past is Friends. That’s how I learned English as I was born and raised in Korea. It’s what I grew up on in Korea. Also, I love Jennifer Coolidge. I’ve always been a fan of hers. I think she would be a hilarious patient.

I thought you were going to say Scrubs. 

Oh! Listen, she ain’t complaining. She would love that too. 

You worked with Margaret Cho on A Family Guide to Hunting, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival last year. How was sharing the screen with her? Is she one of those you look at when it comes to representation on TV and inspiring you to pursue this career? 

I mean Margaret is amazing. She has been my idol. I did this interview when I first graduated from Julliard because I was one of the first Koreans to graduate from the Juilliard drama program. They did an article on me in Korea. Literally, the headline was I want to be an actress like Margaret Cho. On one of my Instagram posts when I first started working with her, my mom had a screenshot of it and a selfie with her. It meant a lot. 

On top of that, she is the kindest person. They say don’t meet your idols, but I met my idol and she was pretty amazing. It was a full-circle moment. We went to Tribeca, which was so fun. I worked with this actor Ken Leung, who is now on Industry. His filmography is insane. I was privileged enough to workshop a play with him a couple of years ago. Truly, one of the most brilliant actors of our time. He played my dad in this play. Getting to work with him was pretty surreal. Representation maters. When you have actors like Margaret and Ken on screen, it’s just exciting. 

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'St. Denis Medical' Season 2: Premiere Date, Cast, Trailer, and More

When you look at your roles in Double Exposure and St. Denis, they aren’t categorized as “Asian.” Where do you think we’re at when it comes to representation of Asian Americans? Are we having a moment right now? 

I think a lot more work needs to be done. That being said, I do think comparing when I first graduated years ago to now, I do think there is a huge change. There are a lot more faces, even in the limited time I’ve been working. But there are still a lot of limitations. I’ve been fortunate to play roles like you said where being Asian wasn’t their whole identity. There is nothing wrong with that, but there are so many more dimensions to being a human. Race is a part of it, and you can’t ignore that, but it’s not the entire thing. I’ve been very fortunate, but I think there is more work and representation that can happen on screen. 

Double Exposure premiere, Tuesday, February 18, VOD, cable, satellite and DVD

St. Denis Medical, Tuesdays, 8/7c, NBC