Kai Owen
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Kai Owen (born 4 September 1975) is a Welsh actor of stage and screen, known to Welsh audiences for his numerous roles on
Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...
television and to worldwide audiences for his portrayal of Rhys Williams in ''
Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing ...
'' and Pete Buchanan in ''
Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...
''.


Background and personal life

Owen was born in the town of
Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known als ...
in the
Conwy Valley , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...
in North Wales, where his family still lives. His father Mark is a
GMB union The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...
official and his mother Yvonne is a cleaner at the British Legion Club. He was educated at Watling Street Primary School, Llanrwst and Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy. He attended Mountview Theatre School, London for three years, graduating in 1998. Owen lived with his actor fiancée Sarah Wilson in East
Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill and H ...
, London and in 2010 moved with son Bobby to
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
. He ran the 2009
London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...
for the children's cancer charity
CLIC Sargent Young Lives vs Cancer, the operating name for "CLIC Sargent", is a charity in the United Kingdom formed in 2005. Young Lives vs Cancer is the UK's leading cancer charity for children, young people and their families. Its care teams provide speci ...
, and also ran the Virgin London Marathon on 25 April 2010. He is a patron of
Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...
Youth Musical Theatre.


Television career

He became first known as Kev, a gay roofer in '' Tipyn O Stad'', shown on Welsh-language channel S4C. He was a regular in several series (52 episodes) of this popular gritty Welsh television programme; he also appeared in S4C's ''Treflan'' as character Bob Lewis. In 2009 he guested as Harri in the second series of ''
Y Pris ''Y Pris'' (English: ''The Price'') is a Welsh television crime drama, produced by Fiction Factory for Welsh public service television station S4C. The series, described in its tagline as "''The Sopranos'' by the seaside", is set in Carmarthens ...
'' and as violent loan shark Craig Turner in ''
Pobol Y Cwm ''Pobol y Cwm'' (''People of the Valley''; ) is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally transmitted on BBC One Wales and l ...
'' (one episode, broadcast 11 September 2009; he appeared in a similar guest role in the show in August and in October 2012). Owen's first appearance on English-language UK television came in 2001, when he appeared as Buster Edwards in the episode ''Dog Dago Afternoon'' of series ''Fun at the Funeral Parlour''. In 2003 he guested in an episode of
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
television series ''
Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'' (episode 392, ''Stuck in the Middle With You'', 19 April 2003, as Danny). In 2005 he played the character of Dave 'Shiner' Owen in all six episodes of the series '' Rocket Man'', a BBC One television series about a man trying to launch his dead wife's ashes into space. 2006 saw Owen cast as recurring character Rhys Williams in ''
Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing ...
'', a spin-off from the science fiction television series ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'', a role for which he has become most renowned. He was elevated to star billing for the third series, broadcast on BBC One in summer 2009, reflecting his growing role in the series. He reprised his role in the fourth series of ''Torchwood'' - '' Torchwood: Miracle Day'', broadcast during summer 2011. Owen appeared in an episode of ''Celebrity
Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...
'' with ''Torchwood'' co-star Tom Price (
Andy Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...
) (recorded 26 August 2009, broadcast 8 January 2010). In 2011, Owen appeared in the first episode of the third series of '' Being Human'' as Bob, leader of a dogging pack. He appears in the 14th episode of the seventh series of long running BBC school drama '' Waterloo Road'' as former rugby pro Ken Watling. He appeared in an episode of the 2012
Kay Mellor The name Kay is found both as a surname (see Kay (surname)) and as a given name. In English-speaking countries, it is usually a feminine name, often a short form of Katherine or one of its variants; but it is also used as a first name in its own ...
drama ''
The Syndicate ''The Syndicate'' is a British television drama series. It was written by Kay Mellor and is broadcast on BBC One. It sees five members of a betting syndicate win the lottery. Each series follows a different syndicate. The first series is set i ...
'', broadcast on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
. In 2015, Owen joined the cast of the Channel 4 soap opera ''
Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...
'' playing Pete Buchanan, the ex-partner of
Reenie McQueen ''Hollyoaks'' is a British television soap opera that was first broadcast on 23 October 1995. The following is a list of characters that appeared in the serial in 2015, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by executive pr ...
(
Zöe Lucker Zöe Elizabeth Lucker (born 11 April 1974) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Sonya Leach in ''Coronation Street'' Tanya Turner in the ITV drama series, ''Footballers' Wives''; Vanessa Gold in the long-running BBC One soap ope ...
) and a perpetrator of child abuse. In preparation for the role, he liaised with the
NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...
. After portraying the role until a year later, he made a brief return in 2018. He is also set to reprise the role in April 2021.


Filmography


Television


Narration/Radio


Stage


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Kai Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Welsh male television actors Welsh male radio actors Welsh male stage actors Welsh male soap opera actors 1975 births Living people People from Conwy County Borough People educated at Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy Welsh-speaking actors 20th-century Welsh male actors 21st-century Welsh male actors