Jared Van Snellenberg was born and raised in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He developed a strong interest in acting from a young age, and had started training in various local film and theatre courses by the age of 11. At the age of 14 he made his film debut as Adam Sandler's caddy in Happy Gilmore (1996), who was the first of three Saturday Night Live (1975) cast members with whom Jared has had the opportunity to work alongside in feature films (also Jon Lovitz in Rat Race (2001) and 'Darrel Hammond' in Agent Cody Banks (2003)). In 2002 Jared left the industry to pursue a career in academic psychology.