Born March 25, 1979, in Chickasha, Oklahoma, Lee spent his early years living in the Middle East, where his father was in the oil business. His family eventually moved back to the States, first to New Orleans and later, Houston, Texas.

He attended Klein High School near Houston, where his acting career began. In fact, he was so enamored of acting that he dropped out of high school to perform at the local Alley Theatre.

Once he completed his final high school courses, Lee was accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School’s Drama Division in 1997. While there, he honed his skills in such classic roles as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, the title role in King Richard II, and Cassius in Julius Caesar, among others.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Lee starred in the critically-acclaimed Off-Broadway play, The Credeaux Canvas, as well as being part of the Vineyard production of The Fourth Sister.

Arguably, his biggest break came in 2003, when he starred opposite Troy Garity in Soldier’s Girl, an extraordinary telefilm created for Showtime. The film is based on the true story of a transgendered nightclub performer who fell in love with a soldier, later brutally murdered because of their relationship.

Lee’s performance garnered him nominations for both the Golden Globes and the Independent Spirit Awards, and he won a Gotham Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance.

In the spring of 2004, Lee starred a limited engagement of the Off-Broadway production Small Tragedy, and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Awards in the category of Outstanding Actor. That same year, he appeared on the brilliant, though sadly short-lived, FOX series Wonderfalls.

After the show’s cancellation, Lee went on to take roles in several feature films, including The White Countess, The Fall, and The Good Shepherd, as well as the Off-Broadway play, Guardians.

Lee is currently starring in Pushing Daisies, a show produced and written by Bryan Fuller, with whom Lee worked on Wonderfalls. In fact, the role he’s playing was written specifically with him in mind. The show is scheduled to premiere October 3, 2007, on ABC.