Made his stage debut freshman year of high school in a community theater production of Biloxi Blues.
Met his wife, Robyn Peterman, while both were performing in a touring production of Bye Bye Birdie in 1991. She is the daughter of J. Peterman, a catalog founder and inspiration for the Seinfeld character of the same name.
Ben Stiller cast him in Reality Bites (1994) after seeing his performance in the 1993 off-Broadway play Sophistry (also starring Ethan Hawke).