Michael was raised in Oahu, Hawaii, until the age of 7; he then lived in Englewood, Colorado, and moved to southern Maine when he was 13. After graduating from Marshwood H.S. in Eliot, Maine, an Academic All-American, he attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. He studied engineering, played football, ran track, and explored Manhattan every chance he got. Fashion photographer Bruce Weber discovered Michael and used him in multiple shoots for Ralph Lauren. It was at the first shoot in Miami where Michael chose the road less traveled and he has been acting ever since. He got his first acting coach, Geoffrey Horne, from a chance meeting with Mickey Rourke in Miami the day he resigned from school. He took Mickey's advice; he has continued to study acting and will forever be researching the human experience.