Christian Cousins, child actor in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 'Kindergarten Cop,' dies at 43

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Christian Cousins, the former child actor best known for playing Dominic in the 1990 film 'Kindergarten Cop' alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, has died at 43.

His body was found at his home in Irvine, California, on October 20 after his family requested a welfare check when they were unable to reach him. His death was publicly announced on November 13, weeks after his half-brother Jonas Roeser shared the news in an Instagram post.

Christian Cousins was found dead after family requested a welfare check

According to PEOPLE, Cousins' family became concerned after they could not get in touch with him and asked authorities to check on him.

Police officers went to his Irvine home on October 20 and found him dead. Authorities reportedly found no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

However, Roeser said in his Instagram tribute that Christian had been seriously ill with liver disease. “It brings me comfort to believe he is now in heaven with his mother, free from the pain he was carrying,” Roeser wrote.

He also remembered his half-brother as someone who was “full of passion and energy, with big stories and even bigger dreams.”

Christian Cousins shared the role of Dominic in 'Kindergarten Cop' with his twin brother, Joseph 'Joey' Cousins.

Christian Cousins' half-brother shares emotional tribute

Cousins' half-brother, Jonas Roeser, announced his death in an Instagram post shared on October 22. “It's hard to share that my brother, Christian Cousins, has passed away,” Roeser wrote.

“Christian and his twin brother, Joseph ‘Joey’ Cousins, are my brothers through my biological father. They grew up in California while I was in Washington, and I didn’t get to know them until I was in college."

"Before that, I grew up watching them on television in Knots Landing and the lead role of Dominic in Kindergarten Cop with Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

Roeser also said that Christian's acting roles were only a small part of how he would remember his brother. The brothers also appeared together in the television series 'Knots Landing', playing Bobby Gibson Ewing from 1987 to 1992.

Cousins' other acting credits included 'Highway to Heaven', 'Critters 3' and 'Twin Sitters', which marked his final film role in 1995.

He later stepped away from acting and moved into the furniture business. In 2020, he reunited with his 'Kindergarten Cop' castmates for the film's 30th anniversary and spoke about how he and his twin brother landed the role.

Christian Cousins recalled landing his role in 'Kindergarten Cop'

During a December 2020 reunion with Yahoo Entertainment, Cousins recalled how he and his twin brother landed the role.

“They had seen some previous work that we’d done,” Cousins said, “met with (director) Ivan Reitman and Arnold right off the bat and got it. But when they did a bunch of major, major interviews with a lot of kids, they still invited us to go to each one. Because they were also seeing how we all interact together.”