Jay Cardell was born in Angeles City, Philippines. He lived there for several months with his mother until he moved to San Diego, California. He moved around from city to city, state to state as the son of a Marine but claims San Diego as where he was raised. Jay grew up with the love for playing basketball and had dreams of playing professionally. Jay had an offer to play in Italy during his teenage years but was unable to fulfill that dream as he was a student first. Jay's love for acting began in his first play as a Mouseketeer in elementary school and even won an award for best performance. He continued to act during High School and also in college at Winston Salem State University where he Majored in Psychology and minored in Sociology as well as Drama. Jay decided to become a professional actor by the age of 32 and hopes to make it his full time career in the very near future.