Eric Mabius was born in Pennsylvania, the second of two sons to Elizabeth (née Dziczek) and Craig Mabius. His father has Austrian and Irish ancestry, while his mother is of entirely Polish descent.
Eric spent his early life in Massachusetts, and upon graduating from high school, he attended the renowned arts school, Sarah Lawrence College. He immersed himself in acting, writing, and film theory, which became the jumping-off point for his first roles in smaller Off-Broadway productions.
He first gained recognition with his film debut in Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995),where he played the object of Heather Matarazzo's character's affection, a teen rock star. Since then, he has taken on a wide variety of roles, avoiding being typecast.
Eric has appeared in more than 27 films, seven of which screened at Sundance, and over a dozen television projects. He earned favorable notice for his performance as a high school gang leader in Black Circle Boys (1997). More roles followed, his best known being in the box office smash Cruel Intentions (1999),where he played a prep school athlete who gets blackmailed.
He got a starring role in The Crow: Salvation (2000),a sequel to the Brandon Lee film from a few years earlier. Another horror film he appeared in was the science fiction action film Resident Evil (2002),in which he played a policeman in the future.
He won another prominent role in the Showtime TV drama The L Word (2004),which won him a new audience. He starred in another TV series, the high-tech drama Eyes (2005),but although the series was well-received, it never found an audience.
However, his standing wasn't damaged, and he continues to have a devoted fan base, particularly among audiences of independent films. In 2006, he gained more acclaim for his role in the surprise hit series Ugly Betty (2006),playing a womanizing executive.
In February of 2006, he married his girlfriend of five years, interior designer Ivy Sherman, in New Orleans.
