Bleu attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, a magnet school like the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, which was portrayed in the movie and television series "Fame", and which Bleu's mother had attended. During his freshman year, he won his first sizable film role in the teen action caper "Catch That Kid" (2004), about a girl and her friends who decide to rob a bank after learning that money is needed to aid her dying father, alongside Kristen Stewart and Max Thieriot. Although it was a box office flop, having only grossed $10 million, it served as an important step for Bleu, who was still building his acting career at the time. During high school, he performed in such student productions as "Footloose" and "Grease", winning the honor of Theatre Student of the Year.