James Hiroyuki Liao is an American actor whose work spans live-action television, film, and voice acting. While he has contributed to projects within the anime genre, his voice acting career is more prominently defined by work in Western animation and video games. Liao was born on February 6, 1976, in Brooklyn, New York, and is of Taiwanese and Japanese descent. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School's Drama Division, completing his training there in 2004.

Liao's most notable voice role is not in anime but in the critically acclaimed video game Ghost of Tsushima, where he provided the voice and motion capture performance for Kenji, a sly but good-hearted sake seller. His performance as Kenji is noted for its humor and heart, making the character a fan favorite. In the realm of animated feature films, he voiced the character Toshiaki in Tim Burton's stop-motion film Frankenweenie.

While the user query mentions him as an anime voice actor for specific series, the search results indicate these credits are for live-action adaptations rather than animated productions. He portrays the character Ipponmatsu in the Netflix live-action series One Piece: Into the Grand Line, the second season of the streaming service's adaptation of the famous manga and anime. Similarly, he plays the role of Rengie Tanaka in the 2021 Netflix live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, a character described as a minor villain with a bounty on his head. Therefore, his connection to these popular anime franchises is through their live-action reimaginings, not as a voice actor in the original animated productions.

Beyond these roles, Liao has a broad career in live-action television and film. He is known for playing Roland Glenn on the series Prison Break, Jay Lee on the series Unforgettable, and Albert Nguyen on the HBO series Barry. He has also appeared in films such as Battle: Los Angeles and Star Trek Into Darkness. Additional television credits include roles in The Dropout and Presumed Innocent. This extensive live-action work forms the core of his professional acting profile, with voice and motion-capture performances representing a significant, but not singular, aspect of his career.