Archie Kao

Summary

Archie Kao is an American actor and producer. He is best known to American audiences for series regulars roles on Chicago P.D., Power Rangers Lost Galaxy as well as long-running hit CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Archie Kao
Archie Kao attends Esquire's Man of the Year event, December 13, 2016 in Beijing, China
Born
OccupationActor
Years active1994–present
Spouse
(m. 2014; div. 2020)
Archie Kao
Traditional Chinese高聖遠
Simplified Chinese高圣远

Early life edit

 
Archie Kao in 1982 with younger sisters and neighbor across the street in Alexandria, Virginia.

Born in Washington, D.C., Kao grew up in the suburbs of Alexandria, Virginia. His parents are immigrants from Taiwan.

While attending George Mason University, Kao joined the Sigma Chi fraternity and graduated with a degree in Speech Communication in 1992.[1]

As an undergraduate, Kao was elected Student Government President as well as the University's Homecoming King. He initially had plans to attend Law School and work in politics before becoming an actor.[2]

Kao also speaks and understands Mandarin because he grew up in a bilingual household with two younger sisters but is more comfortable speaking in English, especially in interviews. He also studied French for six years.[2]

He was named one of People's "Hottest Bachelors" in 2006. Kao currently divides his time between Los Angeles and Beijing.

Career edit

Television edit

Through the early 2000s, Kao may have been best known for his role as Archie Johnson in the hit television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, as well as the role of Kai Chen, the Blue Ranger, in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy. He has also appeared on TV shows such as Desperate Housewives (as Steve), ER (as Yuri), NBC's Heroes, Century City, Huff (as Kane), Power Rangers Wild Force (as General Venjix), Once and Again (as Steven), L.A. Firefighters (as Peter), Maybe This Time (as Takeshi) and more.

In 2013, Kao joined the cast of the NBC TV series Chicago P.D. (a spin-off from Chicago Fire) as a series regular, a character named Detective Sheldon Jin who is in charge of surveillance at the Chicago Police Department Intelligence Unit.[3][4]

Kao shares his birthday with fellow Power Rangers actress Thuy Trang (1973–2001), who played the original Yellow Ranger, Trini Kwan, in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from 1993 to 1994.

Film edit

 
Archie Kao at the 2015 Hong Kong Film Awards

Kao appeared as Sebastian in Wayne Wang's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and starred as the main romantic lead, Jefferson, in Quentin Lee's The People I've Slept With. Kao also played Edwin Luke, the brother of Keye Luke in Timothy Tau's short film bio-pic Keye Luke, which premiered at the 2012 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and which was Closing Night Film of the inaugural 2013 Seattle Asian American Film Festival.[5] Kao has recently signed on to a thriller film from China entitled The Deathday Party opposite Anita Yuen, which is also being shot in the ancient Chinese Alu Caves of Yunnan.[6] Kao played Shum in Michael Mann's film Blackhat (2015). Kao has also had roles in films such as The Hills Have Eyes 2 (as Han), Nomad: The Warrior (as Shangrek), When In Rome (as Nobu), and Jet Li's The One (as Woo).

Kao provided the voice of Kenji in the videogame Need for Speed: Carbon.

Kao wrote, directed and produced a short film entitled Initiation (2011), which starred Ashley Bell and Kao's CSI co-star Marc Vann. The film is about an assassin trainee (Bell) who struggles with initiation day jitters under her mentor (Vann). Kao also produced and starred in a short film (as Jin) directed by Jerry Chan entitled Fast Money (2006).

Personal life edit

In May 2014, Chinese actress Zhou Xun posted a picture of Archie and herself on her team's Weibo account, announcing that they were dating.[7]

On July 16, 2014, Kao and Zhou were officially married on stage after a charity event in Hangzhou, China.[8]

On December 23, 2020, Zhou announced on her Sina Weibo account that they have divorced, to which Kao acknowledged a comment to her update.[9]

Filmography edit

Film edit

Year Title Role Notes
2021 Christmas at the Ranch
2021 The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu
2018 Dream Breaker
2017 Legend of the Ancient Sword Xie Yi
2017 Into the Rainbow Song
2016 Provoking Laughter
2015 Ulterior Motive Ling Feng
2015 Blackhat Shum
2014 The Deathday Party Eric
2013 Love Speaks Shaodong
2012 Keye Luke Edwin Luke
2011 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Sebastian
2008 The People I've Slept With Jefferson
2007 The Hills Have Eyes 2 Han
2006 Nomad: The Warrior Shangrek
2006 Need for Speed: Carbon Kenji Video Game
2006 Fast Money Jin
2002 When In Rome (V) Nobu
2002 My Daughter's Tears Minh Van Canh
2002 Local Boys David Kamelamela
2002 Purpose Kiko
2001 The One Woo
2001 Thank Heaven Sam Lee
2002 Purpose Kiko
1997 The Player Intern

Television edit

Year Title Role Notes
2024 Interior Chinatown Uncle Wong Main Cast
2023 Rabbit Hole Elliot Gao Main Cast
2021 Breath of Destiny Qiao XiangWan Main Cast
2020 The Flight Attendant Ani's Client
2018 Never Gone Xu Zhiheng Special appearance
2018 Love Is in the Air Chu Tian Qi Main Cast
2017 My Dear Boy Xiao Yeshi Main Cast
2017 Nothing Gold Can Stay Tu'er Dan Special appearance
2017 Fighter of the Destiny Jin Yulü Special appearance
2014 Chicago P.D. Detective Sheldon Jin Main cast (Season 1)
2008 Desperate Housewives Steve "Hello, Little Girl" (Guest Appearance)
2006 Heroes Doctor "Chapter Five 'Hiros'" (Guest Appearance)
2004 Century City Bartender "To Know Her" (Guest Appearance)
2004 ER Yuri "Abby Normal" and "Just a Touch" (Recurring Role)
2004 Huff Kane "That Fucking Cabin" (Guest Appearance)
2002 Power Rangers Wild Force General Venjix Voice, Episode: "Forever Red"
2001-2012 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Archie Johnson Recurring role (2001–2012) (Also in 1 episode as M.Blaze)
2000 Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue Kai Chen / Blue Galaxy Ranger / Liztwin Voice, 3 episodes
1999 Once and Again Steve / Steven "The Past is Prologue" and "A Dream Deferred" (2009) (Recurring Role)
1999 Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy Kai Chen / Blue Galaxy Ranger Main cast 45 episodes
1996 Maybe This Time Takeshi "Break a Leg" (Guest Appearance)
1996 L.A. Firefighters Peter "Fuel and Spark" (Guest Appearance)

References edit

  1. ^ "Retro Mason Homecoming 1990". George Mason University. February 25, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Archie Kao - my official artist profile -alivenotdead.com". www.alivenotdead.com.
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 27, 2013). "Archie Kao Joins 'Chicago PD' As Regular; Genevieve Angelson In 'House Of Lies'".
  4. ^ Poisuo, Pauli (2020-07-20). "The real reason Archie Kao left Chicago P.D." Looper.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  5. ^ Macdonald, Moira. "Seattle Asian American Film Gets Under Way". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  6. ^ "CSI's Archie Kao Joins THE DEATHDAY PARTY | Twitch". Archived from the original on 2013-06-15. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  7. ^ 周迅凌晨公开与美国华裔演员恋情:请多关照
  8. ^ 周迅大婚:在今晚举行的ONE NIGHT公益晚会上,周迅 一袭婚纱压轴出场 Archived 2014-07-18 at archive.today
  9. ^ "六年情断! 周迅、高圣远宣布离婚". 早报 (in Simplified Chinese). 2020-12-23. Retrieved 2020-12-23.

External links edit

  • Official website  
  • Archie Kao at IMDb
  • 10 Things You Didn't Know about Archie Kao
  • Kao on about.me
  • [1]
  • Archie Kao: Jack of All Trades | Taipei 543
  • Zhou Xun and Archie Kao Wed in Surprise Public Ceremony in China