Todd Tesen, (birth name: Todd Thiessen) hails from Detroit, Michigan, USA, where he grew up the oldest of two siblings; his sister, actress Tiffani Thiessen, and younger brother, Schyler Thiessen. He studied theater at Eastern Michigan University where he won many awards in Speech competitions. He was "discovered" on the stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company during a production of "A Clockwork Orange". His looks won him the role of Thaddeus Ross in Ang Lee's Hulk (2003), where he played a younger Sam Elliott in flashbacks. He is also an avid professional cyclist.