Trivia

His Chinese stage name is Cao Cao.

Chinese speaking American actor working in Chinese film and TV.

Studied acting at NYU's Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and directing at NYU Film School.

Acted in leading roles in over 25 prime-time Chinese TV shows and films. He has starred in more than 50 soap operas and has his own TV show in China.

Moved to Beijing in 1997 after majoring in acting, film, and molecular biology at New York University.

Probably the most famous foreigner in China since Mark Rowswell (Dashan). However, he is relatively unknown in the West.

Kos-Read spoke at length of how the cultural and communication norms in China are often wildly different from what he is still most familiar with as an American. He used as an example how he was cast as a Jewish American (he isn't Jewish) and talked to a male Jewish friend to get more background to make the role authentic. But while most of this project did not touch on the character's background, Kos-Read was surprised when a key scene called for his character to break down after committing a sin by praying for forgiveness from a statue of Jesus Christ, which he tried to tell the director was something a Jewish character would not do. The director ultimately decided not to make any changes to the scene because he liked the element of religion and sin mixed together, even if it was presented inaccurately.

Stated in an article covering his unusual career path (a Caucasian actor playing Chinese-speaking roles in Chinese films) that while he will not play unabashedly "evil Westerner" parts, he WILL take on roles that aren't entirely positive because if he declines them, Chinese producers and directors will cast Russian actors instead and make the roles into one-dimensional caricatures of Western malevolence.