Ari was born in a suburb of Philadelphia to an artist mother and
businessman father. He became interested in acting by the age of six,
and by the age of ten joined a film/acting group called "Cynekid".
After several filmmaking projects of his own, Ari auditioned for and
got a lead role in Durchgeknallt und auf der Flucht (1995) with Daniel Stern. He then got the part of
Bette Midler's son in Der Club der Teufelinnen (1996). Ari began attending Abington Friends High
School in Philadelphia and decided to take a break from professional
acting when the schedule conflicted with his high school drama career.
He attended CalArts program in California in 1999 and Bennington
College's July Program in 2000. He also entered Simon's Rock College as
a Freshman.
