Born in the Bronx, but raised in the middle class suburb of Mount Vernon, this only son of a transit authority executive and his teacher wife migrated to Los Angeles to play basketball for Loyola Marymount before moving into acting. Early roles included a football teammate of Tom Cruise in "All the Right Moves" (1983) and Fortune, the Notre Dame-bound basketball playing co-worker of Matt Dillon, in "The Flamingo Kid" (1984). It was only after his exposure in the Madonna video that Leon's roles became more substantial. He was a member of a singing group trying to stay off drugs while his brother becomes addicted in Robert Townsend's "The Five Heartbeats" (1991). In 1993, he co-starred as John Lithgow's British henchman out to get Sylvester Stallone in Renny Harlin's "Cliffhanger" and followed with a turn as a disillusioned ex-jock in "Above the Rim" (1994). Leon was also memorable as Lela Rochon's married lover in "Waiting to Exhale" (1996) and co-produced as well as co-starred in the romantic drama "The Price of Kissing" (1997).

Before striking it on the big screen, Leon amassed numerous small screen credits, notably as a 1989 episode of the NBC series "Midnight Caller" in which he played an athlete who falls victim to crack cocaine. He also co-starred in the 1989 ABC miniseries "The Women of Brewster Place", as the ghetto boyfriend of a suburbanite Robin Givens.