Liao was born on February 6, 1976, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York City, New York. His father is Taiwanese, and his mother is Japanese. He attended graduate school at the Juilliard School's Drama Division, graduating in 2004, and studied at the Marjorie Ballentine Studio. In addition to numerous roles in movies and TV shows, he performed on stage, including portraying Song Liling in Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage production of M. Butterfly. Liao also provided voice and motion-capture acting for the role of Kenji in the video game Ghost of Tsushima (2020).
Hard Luck
(Chang (as James Liao))
Applebaum
(Tze Lin)
Battle: Los Angeles
(Steven Mottola)
Star Trek Into Darkness
(U.S.S. Vengeance Bridge Officer)
Star Trek: Section 31
(San)
Lost Girls
(Michael Pak)
Frankenweenie
(Toshiaki (voice))
Management
(Al)
All Signs of Death
(Dingbang)
All Signs of Death
(Ding Bang)
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins
(Yasuzo)
The Shield
(Llewellyn Wang)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
(Eric Hong)
CSI: Miami
(ME Assistant)
Bones
(Assistant Coroner)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
(Erik 'Precious Ricky' Hong)
Manifest
(Rob)
Law & Order: Trial by Jury
(Eddie Perkins)
Marvel's Iron Fist
(Albert)
Unforgettable
(Jay Lee)
Cowboy Bebop
(Rengie Tanaka)
Orphan Black: Echoes
(Paul Darros)
Barry
(Albert Nguyen)
Prison Break
(Roland Glenn)
The Dropout
(Edmond Ku)
Law & Order
(Bobby Ito)
Blue Bloods
(Lt. Fleming)
House
(Luca)
SEAL Team
(Dr. Lucien)
Presumed Innocent
(Dr. Herbert Kumagai)