Close was born in Staten Island, New York. Close's father is an orthopedic surgeon. Close is the eldest of three brothers. His family moved to Indiana, then to Michigan, and finally settled in San Diego when Close was seven years old.
Close was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and graduated with a B.A. in communications from the University of Southern California in 1989.
Close was interested in acting from an early age and had some stage experience in school, but did not decide to pursue an acting career until after college. His first role was in a theater production Rat Songs in L.A., after which he was offered parts in the crime drama American Me (1992) and the TV movie Safe House directed by Elena Mannus. He had a brief stint in daytime television when he played Sawyer Walker on the NBC daytime soap opera Santa Barbara from 1992 to 1993. He received a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Outstanding Male Newcomer for his role as Sawyer Walker on Santa Barbara. Close later starred on short-lived primetime shows such as McKenna (1994–1995), Dark Skies (1996–1997), The Magnificent Seven (1998–1999), Now and Again (1999–2000), and the Steven Spielberg miniseries production, Taken (2002). He starred on storyline online and read when Picasso met Mootise.

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