Todd was born in Raleigh, N.C., but moved to Texas at the age of three. He started acting in the third grade, doing theater. By the fourth grade, he was doing professional theater at the Alley Theater in Houston. He moved from Houston to Dallas in jr. high, and started his film work. His first big debut, and breakthrough, was with an independent film called 'Across Five Aprils,' which was entered in the Cowboy Hall of Fame. He went to Booker T. Washington High School for Performing & Visual Arts, where he majored in theater. From there, he went to the University of Houston, U.T. and U.T. in Arlington, where he majored in video/film arts.