Born and raised in Southern California, Goldberg knew early on he wanted to act and by age 14 was already studying professionally. He made his feature film debut in 1991 as the younger brother (in the early sequences) in "Mr. Saturday Night," and earned notice as Mike, the neurotic high school junior whose machismo and intellect are in conflict in "Dazed and Confused" (1993). The same year, he played the slave and henchman of Christopher Walken in "The Prophecy". The actor lent his distinctive voice to a tough mutt in the family film "Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco" (1996) and appeared as a Jewish soldier alongside Tom Hanks in Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" (1998). Goldberg moved behind the cameras as writer and director of the independent neo-noir "Scotch and Milk" (1998) but continued to be a familair on-screen face as he became increasingly in-demand as a character actor. Goldberg had a highly visible turn as one of John Nash's (Russell Crowe's) physics colleagues in "A Beautiful Mind" (2001), and appeared as one of the leads in the well-received crime noir "The Salton Sea" (2002) before returning to his comedic roots as one of Matthew McConaughhey's betting buddies in the romantic comedy "How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days" (2003). well-received