Thanks to his striking good looks, Daniel Henney was cast in a Korean television series despite the fact he couldn't speak any Korean at the time.

Today, his work takes him around the world. With a resume that includes roles in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “Big Hero 6” (he was the voice of Tadashi), Henney is one of the stars of the new CBS procedural “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.” An edited version of our conversation follows.

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How does your level of recognition compare in the U.S. versus overseas?

I'm fairly recognizable in Korea. But I've always been able to fly under the radar in the United States. It's all really nice.

I think because I started a lot later than a lot of other actors — I was about 24 or 25 — and things happened gradually, it gave me a lot of time to gradually get accustomed to being recognized.

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I've read that you first traveled to Korea to find out more about your mother's birth family. (Henney's mom was adopted from Korea as a baby.) How much truth is there to that?

There is some truth to that, but the reason I went was for work.

I had always wanted to visit and would've gone sooner or later for myself, but it just happened to work out that I got a couple commercials to shoot that took me over there. Once I was in Korea, I thought it would be a great opportunity to track some things down for my mom. Even in the States when I was young, my mom was trying to put some pieces together, and, as you can imagine, it's a very difficult process.

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Are you an adventurous eater?

I go for it! I kind of think the more delicately you treat yourself, the more you're apt to get sick.

I like to eat what the locals are eating. I try to eat healthy, but I eat street food when I go to Taiwan. I'll eat all the soups in Thailand because it's so good. I love it all.

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What is on your travel bucket list?

I lived in Europe for a while, but I've never been to Spain. I would love to go to Ireland and have a pint of beer in Dublin. My family's roots are there.

I've never been to any part of South America and would love to visit some of the countries there.

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What was the first trip you took as a child?

My earliest memory is when I was 3 or 4. We had a 1982 aqua-blue Chevrolet Chevette.

We went to visit my aunt in that tiny car. It took two days.

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Do you enjoy road trips?

I really do. I drove cross-country from California to Michigan with my dog. That was fun.

I love to travel by any means. The experiences are so worthwhile, and it really changes you as a person.

For more from the reporter, visit jaehakim.com.