Archie Kao
American actor
title: "Archie Kao" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["living-people", "year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)", "20th-century-american-male-actors", "21st-century-american-male-actors", "american-male-actors-of-chinese-descent", "american-male-actors-of-taiwanese-descent", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-television-actors", "american-male-voice-actors", "american-actors-of-chinese-descent", "american-actors-of-taiwanese-descent", "george-mason-university-alumni", "male-actors-from-los-angeles", "male-actors-from-washington,-d.c.", "male-actors-from-alexandria,-virginia", "american-people-of-taiwanese-descent"] description: "American actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Kao" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American actor ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| image | Archie-Kao-Esquire-2016.jpg |
| caption | Kao attending Esquire's Man of the Year event on December 13, 2016 in Beijing, China |
| native_name | 高聖遠 |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| occupation | Actor |
| yearsactive | 1994–present |
| spouse | |
| :: |
| image = Archie-Kao-Esquire-2016.jpg | caption = Kao attending Esquire's Man of the Year event on December 13, 2016 in Beijing, China | native_name = 高聖遠 | birth_date = | birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | occupation = Actor | yearsactive = 1994–present | spouse = | t = 高 | s = 高 | p = Gāo Shèngyuǎn | w = Kao1 Sheng4-Yüan3 Archie Kao (Chinese: 高聖遠) 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.
Early life
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Archie_Kao_13_years_old_with_sisters.png" caption="Kao in 1982 with his 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.
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.
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.
He was named one of *People*s "Hottest Bachelors" in 2006. Kao currently divides his time between Los Angeles and Beijing.
Career
Television
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, later also providing additional voices in the Power Rangers franchise, voicing Liztwin in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue (in which he also reprised his role as Chen) and voicing General Venjix in Power Rangers Wild Force. He has also appeared on TV shows such as Desperate Housewives (as Steve), ER (as Yuri), NBC's Heroes, Century City, Huff (as Kane), 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 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
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Archie_Kao_HK_Film_Awards_2015.jpg" caption="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. Kao appeared in a 2014 Chinese fil, The Deathday Party opposite Anita Yuen. It was shot in the ancient Chinese Alu Caves of Yunnan. 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.
Personal life
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.
On December 23, 2020, Zhou announced on her Sina Weibo account that they have divorced, to which Kao acknowledged a comment to her update.
Filmography
Film
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The Player | Intern | |
| 2001 | Thank Heaven | Sam Lee | |
| The One | Woo | ||
| 2002 | Purpose | Kiko | |
| Local Boys | David Kamelamela | ||
| Against All Evidence | 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 | Nan Yan | |
| 2021 | Christmas at the Ranch | ||
| The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu | David Wu | ||
| 2025 | Captain Tsunami | Gus | |
| :: |
Television
::data[format=table]
| 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), 100 episodes (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 | "Other People's Houses" |
| 2021 | Breath of Destiny | Qiao XiangWan | Main Cast |
| 2023 | Rabbit Hole | Elliot Gao | Main Cast |
| 2024 | Interior Chinatown | Uncle Wong | Main Cast |
| :: |
References
References
- (February 25, 2022). "Retro Mason Homecoming 1990". George Mason University.
- "Archie Kao - my official artist profile -alivenotdead.com".
- (September 27, 2013). "Archie Kao Joins 'Chicago PD' As Regular; Genevieve Angelson In 'House Of Lies'".
- Poisuo, Pauli. (2020-07-20). "The real reason Archie Kao left Chicago P.D.".
- Macdonald, Moira. "Seattle Asian American Film Gets Under Way". Seattle Times.
- "CSI's Archie Kao Joins THE DEATHDAY PARTY | Twitch".
- Lawrence, Jacquie. "Christmas At The Ranch: A lesbian holiday romance". Diva Magazine.
- [http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2014/05/07/3247207.html 周迅凌晨公开与美国华裔演员恋情：请多关照]
- [http://domestic.kankanews.com/c/2014-07-16/0044979495.shtml 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] {{webarchive. link. (2014-07-18)
- (2020-12-23). "六年情断！ 周迅、高圣远宣布离婚".
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