Kai Owen

Born: 4th September 1975
Episodes Broadcast: 2006-2009, 2011

Biography

Born in Llanrwst, Wales, Kai Owen became involved in amateur dramatics during his youth, while attending Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy. His passion for performance led him to study acting and musical theatre at Mountview Theatre School in London, from which he graduated in 1998. Owen soon won regular roles on Welsh-language programmes including Treflan and more than fifty episodes of Tipyn O Stad. After the turn of the century, he branched out into English-language shows such as Fun At The Funeral Parlour, Casualty and Rocket Man. During 2005, Owen made his West End debut in Ying Tong: A Walk With The Goons. He married actress Sarah Annis, with whom he had son Bobby.

In 2006, Owen could be seen in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, having been cast in the recurring role of Rhys Williams, the affable boyfriend of Eve Myles' Gwen Cooper. Rhys was originally kept in the dark about Gwen's involvement with Torchwood, and the character was intended to be killed off in the season finale. However, Owen's performance was so successful that his involvement was instead expanded during Torchwood's second run in 2008, with Rhys and Gwen ultimately married in Something Borrowed. He was promoted to series regular for 2009's epic-length Children Of Earth, and he maintained this status when Torchwood became an American co-production for its fourth and final season in 2011. Owen also played Rhys in two Torchwood radio dramas: 2009's The Dead Line and 2011's The Devil And Miss Carew.

Following the end of Torchwood, Owen began an association with Hollyoaks which would see him appear in more than seventy episodes. Amongst his other credits during the 2010s were Being Human, The Accident, and five episodes of Doctors in which he played a character named after former Doctor Who actor Matthew Waterhouse. In 2012, Owen portrayed Rickard Karne in the Bernice Summerfield audio drama Vesuvius Falling for Big Finish Productions. When the company launched its Torchwood range, he soon reprised the role of Rhys, starting with 2015's Forgotten Lives.

Credits
Actor, Rhys Williams
Everything Changes
Day One
Ghost Machine
Cyberwoman
Countrycide
Out Of Time
Combat
End Of Days
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Sleeper
To The Last Man
Meat
Adam
Dead Man Walking
A Day In The Death
Something Borrowed
Adrift
Fragments
Exit Wounds
Children Of Earth
The New World
Rendition
Dead Of Night
Escape To LA
The Categories Of Life
The Middle Men
Immortal Sins
End Of The Road
The Gathering
The Blood Line

Updated 26th April 2023