The world saw a confident young idol. Inside, he was just a kid who wanted to know who he really was.

A childhood on set

This former adorable child actor, born in 1974, landed his first role at just eight years old, portraying an autistic boy in St. Elsewhere. To help him prepare, his mother explained that children with autism often live in worlds of their own.

“And I understood that. I would sit there and have this whole world going on in my head. I’d be following the patterns on the wall, and in my head there was an imaginary war going on between the shapes,” he once reflected.

He also made a guest appearance in an early episode of Airwolf, earning a nomination for ”Best Young Actor: Guest in a Series.”