Terry Keli Chen was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He moved around growing up but was raised mainly in Alberta and on the West coast. After dropping out of the University of Calgary he spent two years traveling throughout Cuba and the Cayman Islands. Terry moved back to Vancouver, British Columbia to pursue his dream of being an actor. In his first year of auditioning, he made his debut in a supporting role as 'Ben Fong-Torres' in the much-lauded film Almost Famous, directed by Cameron Crowe.