Rod Kasai

Rod Kasai is a diverse, award winning actor born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He began his training at a young age with Wisdom Bridge theater in Chicago, through an arts partnership with the grammar school he attended. That partnership led to an adapted stage version of William Shakespear's Macbeth, where Rod starred as the titular character. Going on to high school where he would letter in 2 sports, Rod would continue his education through an athletic scholarship to college, where he graduated with a degree in Applied Psychology while working as a model and actor during summers between school years. Rod began his career in feature films with the 1999 film Light it up , while earning a scholarship to The Chicago Actor's Studio for more intensive training. This led to more work in feature films like The Watcher , and the Muhammad Ali biopic ALI, both in front of and behind the camera. Of mixed ancestry and also multi cultural, diversity has always been the natural foundation of Rod's life, growing up in communities where over a dozen languages were spoken. That diversity has allowed Rod to take on challenging roles of nearly every ethnic background including African American, Asian and Latino among others. Since then he has won several acting awards and has appeared in both award winning feature and short films, Including the critically acclaimed and film fest darling, Frost Bite, where he donned heavy makeup to portray Jonathan, in a unique role that earned him several best actor nominations despite playing a Zombie. Other notable roles are as the fiery Sgt. Perry in The Great War, and as the civil rights crusader Lamar Ali in Black in Minneapolis. He has also appeared in numerous music videos, web series, and national commercials. Having an athletic background, Rod has had training in Martial arts, skydiving, fight choreography, firearms and typically performs his own stunts.