After graduating from drama school, Kim began acting on stages in Chicago, The Shakespeare Theatre (DC) and eventually landed in Minneapolis. Highlights throughout four seasons at the Guthrie Theater include such roles as Nina in The Seagull, the title role in Electra and Phocion/Princess in The Triumph of Love. At the end of 1993, she moved to Los Angeles and began her film career, landing major roles in two films, Star Trek Generations and Barry Levinson's Disclosure. These roles were followed by work opposite Tommy Lee Jones in Volcano. In 1999, she played Yon Greene, a Bangkok attorney and Lawyer for Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale, in Brokedown Palace. In 2001, she shared the title role in the film The Operator, written and directed by Jon Dichter, co-starring Michael Laurence and Stephen Tobolowsky. Her breakout film and performance was in Eric Byler's Charlotte Sometimes, which film critic Roger Ebert championed and brought to his Overlooked Film Festival. This role was recognized by two FIND Independent Spirit Award nominations for Kim's work as Charlotte and for the film (the John Cassavetes Award).