Tora Kim studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City when she was 17, thinking acting might be something she'd pursue, when life had other plans for her. After her second year at Barnard College where she studied Art History and Sociology with a Minor in Studio Art, she founded the seminal New York rock band Xtatika, dropped out of school and went on to become a singer, songwriter and musician. In between touring four continents and recording albums, an unusually high rate of productivity led her to earn her BA in Performance Art and Writing with honors at New York University, where she won awards for prose and fiction writing. Miss Kim continued her career in music while writing and performing in one-woman and ensemble shows that were well-received at venues such as The Public Theater and PS 122 in New York City. She still made time for legit theater, performing Shakespeare and Brecht, before moving to Los Angeles in 2010. Tora Kim has worked with a diverse range of artists from Sean Lennon to John Zorn, Marina Abramovic and Academy Award-winner Dustin Lance Black.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Tora lived in Panama City, Panama; Queens, New York; and northern New Jersey; all before the age of 6. Growing up in northern New Jersey, Tora trained in classical piano, viola, voice and ballet, and continued traveling and backpacking worldwide throughout her teens. Her music years saw her living a rock and roll lifestyle of extremes. Living a much saner life these days, the actress and writer recently wrote, directed and starred in Half/Life, a dark fantasy short inspired by those years of fertile turmoil.

Upgrade membership to get access to client roster details.

Upgrade to see how you're connected to other professionals through your credits.

Upgrade membership to unlock contact and representation information.

Upgrade membership to unlock box office data.

Upgrade membership to add and manage your images.

Select your profession and Known For titles

Access full contact and representation details

Find the right people with Discover advanced search

View contact info and get hired with IMDbPro

Add your primary image and get discovered

Find contact info for agents and management

View connections to industry professionals

See who's working on in-development titles

Upgrade your membership to view client lists.

Upgrade membership to access historical STARmeter charts for yourself and other professionals.

Get insights on who this person is frequently credited with.

Upgrade membership to add and manage demo reels.

Tora Kim-Lake at the Cannes premiere of Decision To Leave, directed by 2022 Best Director winner Park Chanwook.

GAMESHAKERS [2016] on NIckelodeon. Guest star as BETTY DONG the "Animal Whisperer"

Getty Contour photo shoot at TIFF 2022. Toronto International Film Festival.

THE MAGICIANS [2017] with Alexandra Bokyun Chun and Stella Maeve.

Soul Rasheed and Anderson .Paak in K-Pops! (2024)

Stella Maeve, Summer Bishil, Hale Appleman, Olivia Taylor Dudley, and Arjun Gupta in The Magicians (2015)

Tora Kim

Tora Kim

Known for

Credits summary

Verified affiliations

Photos75

Videos1

STARmeter

Contacts