Archie Kao

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

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. He was recognized as a Significant Sig by his fraternity in 2025, an honor bestowed upon members that have achieved high distinction in their fields.

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.

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

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 Kao and herself on her team's Weibo account, announcing that they were dating. On July 16, 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

Television