Frank Kauer

Frank Kauer was born in 2000 and he is British and Chinese.^[1][2][3] He lives in London.^[1] He obtained a BA in Film and Television from University of Bristol.^[1] He likes playing football and practising martial arts, and he has trained in Wing Chun since the age of 15, which he hopes to bring into his acting career.^[2] He also enjoys martial arts movies.^[2]

Kauer has worked in a professional capacity since he was 10 years old.^[1] He portrayed Spotless Sam in the 2011 film Horrid Henry: The Movie, marking his professional acting debut.^[1][2] He described it as being "such a mad experience" being on the red carpet for the first time in his life.^[2] He played Nick Chin in the second series of the British sitcom Spy, which aired in 2012.^[4][5] He also portrayed Max in the British psychological thriller television series Doctor Foster and had a guest role in the third season of the American action drama television Into the Badlands, which he travelled to Dublin for.^[2][6][7] Working with Suranne Jones in Doctor Foster encouraged him to pursue an acting career.^[2] He also had main roles in the short films A Cry For Sore Eyes (2017), which his school friend directed, and Molly (2025).^[1][2] At the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he had a role in the stage adaptation of Curse of Cranholme Abbey.^[1]

In 2021, Kauer joined the cast of the British soap opera Hollyoaks as 15-year-old Mason Chen-Williams, the youngest member of the new Chen-Williams family unit introduced to the soap opera that year.^[2][8][9] His first appearance aired in December 2021.^[8] The family was longlisted for "Best Family" in the 2022 Inside Soap Awards, but they did not make shortlist.^[10] Kauer related to Mason due to being Eurasian himself and "experiencing the challenges growing up mixed race brought".^[2] His first few months on set were impacted by restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.^[2] A notable storyline for Kauer was Mason being manipulated and drawn into radical misogyny and incel culture, which Kauer did research for.^[2][11][12] The plot was nominated for "Best Storyline" at the 2023 Inside Soap Awards.^[13] Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy believed that Mason's radical misogyny storyline was a highlight for the Chen-Williams family.^[14]

Despite not often checking social media, Kauer noted that viewers had mixed reactions to his character, with some believing him to be a victim.^[3] He added that he and the cast of his onscreen family were very close and that he had even gone on a weekend trip to Mallorca with some of them in 2022.^[15] Most of Kauer's colleagues who were portraying other teenagers in the soap opera were younger than him, other than Ellie Henry, who was the same age as him.^[16][3] Kauer would practise Wing Chun with his co-star Dominic Power between scenes.^[17] Kauer made his final appearance on Hollyoaks in the episode airing on 8 May 2024, with his departure being one of many that year due to a reduction in cast and crew of the soap because of the soap reducing its number of weekly episodes.^[18]