Born in Newport Beach, California, Rowland is the youngest of four children and the son of a minister. After a brief time as a student on a watersport scholarship at Pepperdine University, Rowland went to Europe and worked as a model for Haute Couture labels like Gucci, Versace, and J.Crew.[citation needed] On the suggestion of Bruce Weber, he began taking acting classes and took on roles in film and theater.
Rowland's first big break was in James Wong and Glen Morgan's science fiction war drama, Space: Above and Beyond in 1995. Despite auditions that were disastrous, Morgan and Wong brought Rowland on board to play the genetically engineered In Vitro Cooper Hawkes. During the shoot for the episode "Who Monitors the Birds?", he became ill due to over work, succumbing to two bouts of exhaustion and bronchitis.
Rowland would later work with Wong and Morgan again on The X-Files in the season four episode "Never Again", appearing alongside Gillian Anderson. His character, Ed Jerse, emotionally connects with Anderson's Dana Scully and encourages her to have a small Ouroboros snake tattooed on the small of her back. Rowland would later date Anderson until 1998.

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