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American actor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 | |
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![]() Archie Kao attends Esquire's Man of the Year event, December 13, 2016 in Beijing, China | |
Born | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1994–present |
Spouse |
Archie Kao | |||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 高聖遠 | ||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 高圣远 | ||||||||
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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.
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.
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).
In 2021, Kao starred in the holiday romance film Christmas at the Ranch with Amanda Righetti, Lindsay Wagner, Laur Allen and Dia Frampton playing the character Charles.[7]
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.[8]
On July 16, 2014, Kao and Zhou were officially married on stage after a charity event in Hangzhou, China.[9]
On December 23, 2020, Zhou announced on her Sina Weibo account that they have divorced, to which Kao acknowledged a comment to her update.[10]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1997 | The Player | Intern | |
2001 | Thank Heaven | Sam Lee | |
The One | Woo | ||
2002 | Purpose | Kiko | |
Purpose | Kiko | ||
Local Boys | David Kamelamela | ||
My Daughter's Tears | Minh Van Canh | ||
When In Rome (V) | Nobu | ||
2006 | Fast Money | Jin | |
Need for Speed: Carbon | Kenji | Video Game | |
Nomad: The Warrior | Shangrek | ||
2007 | The Hills Have Eyes 2 | Han | |
2008 | The People I've Slept With | Jefferson | |
2011 | Snow Flower and the Secret Fan | Sebastian | |
2012 | Keye Luke | Edwin Luke | |
2013 | Love Speaks | Shaodong | |
2014 | The Deathday Party | Eric | |
2015 | Blackhat | Shum | |
Ulterior Motive | Ling Feng | ||
2016 | Provoking Laughter | ||
2017 | Into the Rainbow | Song | |
Legend of the Ancient Sword | Xie Yi | ||
2018 | Dream Breaker | ||
2021 | Christmas at the Ranch | ||
The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu | |||
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | L.A. Firefighters | Peter | "Fuel and Spark" (Guest Appearance) |
Maybe This Time | Takeshi | "Break a Leg" (Guest Appearance) | |
1999 | Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy | Kai Chen / Blue Galaxy Ranger | Main cast 45 episodes |
Once and Again | Steve / Steven | "The Past is Prologue" and "A Dream Deferred" (2009) (Recurring Role) | |
2000 | Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue | Kai Chen / Blue Galaxy Ranger / Liztwin | Voice, 3 episodes |
2001-2012 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Archie Johnson | Recurring role (2001–2012) (Also in 1 episode as M.Blaze) |
2002 | Power Rangers Wild Force | General Venjix | Voice, Episode: "Forever Red" |
2004 | Huff | Kane | "That Fucking Cabin" (Guest Appearance) |
ER | Yuri | "Abby Normal" and "Just a Touch" (Recurring Role) | |
Century City | Bartender | "To Know Her" (Guest Appearance) | |
2006 | Heroes | Doctor | "Chapter Five 'Hiros'" (Guest Appearance) |
2008 | Desperate Housewives | Steve | "Hello, Little Girl" (Guest Appearance) |
2014 | Chicago P.D. | Detective Sheldon Jin | Main cast (Season 1) |
2017 | Fighter of the Destiny | Jin Yulü | Special appearance |
Nothing Gold Can Stay | Tu'er Dan | Special appearance | |
My Dear Boy | Xiao Yeshi | Main Cast | |
2018 | Love Is in the Air | Chu Tian Qi | Main Cast |
Never Gone | Xu Zhiheng | Special appearance | |
2020 | The Flight Attendant | Ani's Client | |
2021 | Breath of Destiny | Qiao XiangWan | Main Cast |
2023 | Rabbit Hole | Elliot Gao | Main Cast |
2024 | Interior Chinatown | Uncle Wong | Main Cast |