Age: 54
Birthplace: Washington D.C, U.S.
Archie David Kao (born December 14, 1969) is an American actor. 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.
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.
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. 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 Yunan. 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 as well as various voices in NARC.
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).
Kao was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Alexandria, Virginia.
Kao attended George Mason University, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity and graduated with a degree in Speech Communication. While at GMU, Kao was elected student government president (as well as vice president the year prior) and elected homecoming king. He initially planned to attend law school and work in politics before becoming an actor. Kao also speaks and understands Mandarin Chinese because he grew up in a bilingual household with two younger sisters. He also studied French for six years.
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.
He was named one of People's "Hottest Bachelors" in 2006. Kao currently divides his time between Los Angeles and Beijing.
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.
On July 16, 2014, Kao and Zhou were officially married on stage after a charity event in Hangzhou, China.
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2016 | The Wonder | |
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 (VG) | Kenji |
2006 | Fast Money | Jin |
2005 | NARC (VG) | Thug/Monk/Bum |
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 |
2000 | Power Rangers in 3D: Triple Force (V) | Kai Chen / Blue Galaxy Ranger |
1999 | Power Rangers Lost Galaxy: Return of the Magna Defender (V) | Kai Chen / Blue Galaxy Ranger |
1998 | Milk and Honey | Peter |
1997 | The Player | Intern |
Year | Title | Episode | Role |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Chicago P.D. | Main cast (Season 1) | Detective Sheldon Jin |
2008 | Desperate Housewives | "Hello, Little Girl" (2008) (Guest Appearance) | Steve |
2006 | Heroes | "Chapter Five 'Hiros'" (2006) (Guest Appearance) | Doctor |
2004 | Century City | "To Know Her" (2004) (Guest Appearance) | Bartender |
2004 | ER | "Abby Normal" (2004) and "Just a Touch" (2004) (Recurring Role) | Yuri |
2004 | Huff | "That Fucking Cabin" (2004) (Guest Appearance) | Kane |
2002 | Power Rangers Wild Force | "Forever Red" (2002) | General Venjix (Voice) |
2001 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Various Episodes (2001-2012) (Also in 1 episode as M.Blaze) (Recurring Role) | Archie Johnson |
2000 | Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue | Various Episodes (2000) | Kai Chen, the Blue Galaxy Ranger and Liztwin (Voice) |
1999 | Once and Again | "The Past is Prologue" (1999) and "A Dream Deferred" (2009) (Recurring Role) | Steve/Steven |
1999 | Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy | Various Episodes in 1999 (Series Regular) | Kai Chen, the Blue Galaxy Ranger |
1996 | Maybe This Time | "Break a Leg" (1996) (Guest Appearance) | Takeshi |
1996 | L.A. Firefighters | "Fuel and Spark" (1996) (Guest Appearance) | Peter |