Alexander Riley Yochim was born in Portland, Oregon. He is the second child of Julie McDonald and John Yochim III. His older brother, John Yochim IV, is a long shore worker like his father and father before him. Alex was educated at Clackamas High in Happy Valley, where, led by the encouragement from friends and teachers, began studying theater. He made his theatrical debut earlier as a child in school plays, but his first lead role came in the Pedro Calderón de la Barca play "Life Is A Dream" (2001). After deciding to continue his pursuit of theater and film, he graduated with an emphasis on Theater and enrolled in Southern Oregon University in 2005 where he remained until graduating with honors in 2009 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. While culminating his thesis performance as Mayor Peter Stockmann in the Henrik Ibsen drama "An Enemy of the People" (2008), he was offered a fellowship at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, staying with the company through the end of the season (2008-2009). Next, he joined the Willamette Shakespeare Festival troupe until turning his entire attention towards film. After a few appearances in low budget features, commercials, and uncredited spots on local television shows such as the TNT program "Leverage" with Timothy Hutton, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career further. Though leaning towards film, his last stage performance was as Lord Capulet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at the Ark Theater in Hollywood (2012).