Chris Zylka

Zylka was born and raised in Howland Township, Ohio. He took his mother's maiden name, Zylka, as a stage name. Zylka was raised by his mother and has never met his biological father. He graduated from Howland High School in 2003. Zylka studied art at the University of Toledo for two years, but dropped out to care for his maternal grandfather when he suddenly became ill. His grandfather is from Ukraine. At the age of 19, he relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. He was homeless for six months upon arriving to Los Angeles and lived in his car in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven in Burbank. Zylka described this time in his life by saying, "For about six months I lived in a '94 Ford Probe behind a 7-11 parking lot. I wound up leaving it in the lot because it wouldn't start anymore, and it just kind of became my home. I think that's where my naivety helped or I was just being stupid! I had this adolescent mind telling me everything was going to be okay, and it was. I've been very fortunate." Zylka began working at restaurants, where he was discovered by manager and acting coach Jon Simmons.