Schneider was born in San Francisco, California and grew up in the nearby suburb of Pacifica. He is the son of Jewish-American real estate broker Marvin Schneider, and Pilar, a former kindergarten teacher and ex-school board president; his grandfather on his mother's side of the family was a European American soldier and his grandmother on the same side of the family was a Filipina. Schneider graduated from Terra Nova High School in 1982.