Born Aug. 31, 1978 in Dalton, GA, Erwin was raised as a Southern Baptist in Arlington, TX. Born with a severe allergy to cellulose, a substance found in fruits and vegetables, Erwin was raised on a strict diet growing up, and had to be rushed to the emergency room on a number of occasions. After appearing in a number of junior high and high school theater productions, Erwin decided that he wanted to pursue acting professionally. Upon graduating from Martin High School in Arlington, Erwin enrolled in the theater program at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, TX. He was named as a member of the national honorary theater fraternity Alpha Psi Omega, and performed in a number of the university’s theater productions including “Evita,” “The Puppeteer,” “Cowboy Mouth,” “Psycho Beach Party,” “Lizard,” and “Women and Wallace.” The young thespian went on to graduate form Texas Wesleyan in 2000 with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in theater.
Relocating to Los Angeles, CA upon graduation, Erwin landed his first professional role in the comedy “The New Guy” (2002). Filmed in Austin, Erwin returned to his home state for the shoot. He was also cast in a small role in the hit teen comedy, “American Pie 2” (2001). Landing a number of television guest appearances, Erwin appeared in episodes of “Judging Amy,” (CBS, 1999-2005), “Do Over,” (WB, 2002) and “7th Heaven” (WB, 1996-2006). In 2001, Erwin was cast in the role of Lyle on the fifth season of the MTV teen soap, “Undressed” (1999-2002). Next, he appeared on the WB series “Reba” (WB, 2001- ) and in the season finale of CBS’s “Touched by An Angel,” (CBS, 1994-2003), playing a high school senior who is found to be a murderer.
Erwin landed his first major break, however, in 2003. Cast as the comatose Colin Hart on the WB’s popular drama, “Everwood” (2002-06), Erwin caught the eye of the show’s young female demographic. In what was originally written to be a brief guest-starring role, Erwin’s viewer appeal on the series led to the young actor joining the series in a regular role. In what was his most challenging role to date, the performance required Erwin to portray a teen struggling with a severe brain injury.
That same year, Erwin landed another potential break-out role – but this time, on the big screen – in Ang Lee’s highly anticipated film adaptation of “The Hulk” (2003). Portraying a young Bruce Banner, Erwin beat out a number of other young actors for the part. Though the film received mixed reviews, it provided ample exposure for Erwin due to its comic book subject matter, grossing more than $200 million worldwide. Despite his hectic schedule, Erwin went on to guest-star in a number of TV episodes, including “One Tree Hill” (WB, 2003- ), “CSI” (CBS, 2000- ), “CSI: Miami” (CBS, 2002- ), and “Joan of Arcadia” (CBS, 2003-05).
Taking on another medium, Erwin provided the voice of Jak in the Playstation 2 video games “Jak II” (2003) , “Jak 3 (2004), and “Jak X: Combat Racing” (2005). Erwin also provided voice-over work for a number of animated series, including “Jackie Chan Adventures” (WB, 2000-05), “Teen Titans” (Cartoon Network, 2003-06), and “Justice League” (Cartoon Network, 2001- ). A familiar face on the WB network, Erwin appeared in a recurring role on the short-lived series, “Jack & Bobby” (2004-05). Back to film, he appeared in the dark independent comedy “Pretty Persuasion” (2005) opposite Evan Rachel Wood. In 2006, Erwin shot the features “Chaos Theory” and “Work.”