Grenier was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the son of Karesse Grenier and John Dunbar. His parents were never married. He was raised by his mother in New York City. His father was from Ohio, and has English, German, Scottish and Irish ancestry. His mother was born in New Mexico, to a family of mostly Mexican (Indigenous, Spanish) and some French descent. A DNA test on the series Finding Your Roots showed Grenier to have approximately 8 percent Native American ancestry and that his direct matrilineal line is Native American. The program determined that his ancestor Diego de Montoya (born in Texcoco, New Spain, in 1596) was the leader of an encomienda, a protectorate of Puebloan peoples in Pueblo San Pedro in New Mexico. He shares this ancestor with author and commentator Linda Chavez, making them ninth cousins.\n', '

Grenier graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and attended Bard College in New York.\n', '

In 1997, Grenier left Bard to embark on a film career. He made his film debut in the independent drama, Arresting Gena, then in 1999 played opposite Melissa Joan Hart in Drive Me Crazy and in 2001 starred in James Toback\'s Harvard Man.\n', '

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