Born as Nguyễn Xuân Trí, his mother My Le was an actress and dancer and his father, Xuan Phat, was an actor, writer and producer in South Vietnam. The family left Vietnam in April 1975 as it fell to Communist Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces.
They arrived in Guam, then the family was moved to a refugee camp in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, and finally with the assistance of a Methodist church they relocated to Kirkwood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. After Nguyen graduated from Santiago High School in Garden Grove, CA, he attended Orange Coast College and majored in communications. Nguyen practices several martial arts including Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Eskrima, and Jeet Kune Do.
