On stage, he won the Drama Critics Circle Award for performances in "Butley" and "Hot and Cold.".
He fell in love with acting, when he acted in a school play when he was in third-grade.
He attended Pasadena Playhouse actors training program in California, where Dustin Hoffman was a classmate. They both went to New York, where they roomed together while they auditioned for acting roles.
He was born into a conservative family in El Paso, Texas.