Born in a small Wisconsin suburb, Ryan Culver spent very little time in one place as a young boy. Moving with his family as his father changed jobs, Ryan spent his pre-school, kindergarten, first, and second grade years in four different states. At the age of seven, he landed with his family in Houston, Texas, where he grew up playing sports and entertaining his family with improv skits. At age eleven, he was cast as the lead in a Christmas play at his middle school, which began his passion for performing. Through high school and college, Ryan continued on stage, until 1997, when, after graduating from Texas Tech University, he moved to Boise, Idaho. There he acted in local television commercials until 2000, when, while plowing a field as a landscape crew chief, he received a phone call and was told that his picture had been submitted to a casting agent in Hollywood who was casting for a show and would like to meet him. Ryan flew out to Los Angeles, where, after two weeks of auditions was asked to move out permanently to continue the process, which marked the beginning of his career in television and film.