Patrick was born on July 3, 1973 in Virginia but grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. In 1995, the 6'1" actor received a B.F.A. in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University. Patrick's rich, rock tenor voice, has earned him two consecutive Tony nominations. In 2001, he received a Tony nomination for Leading Actor in a Musical for "The Full Monty" followed in 2002 with a nomination for "Oklahoma!" While playing "Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny" in Joel Schumacher's 2004 film adaptation of "The Phantom of the Opera" is one of the highlights of his career, many consider Patrick's best role to be his portrayal of Joe Pitt, a Mormon ashamed of his bisexuality, in the multi-award winning HBO miniseries, "Angels in America" in 2003. The role earned him both a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination.