George Perez was born Jorge Antonio Pérez, the seventh of nine siblings who immigrated to the United States in 1973. His family settled in South Central Los Angeles shortly before Pérez's father died in 1980. Young George (as he would be known) entertained his father by imitating his older siblings. The siblings' mother was faced with the challenges of raising 9 children living in a one bedroom apartment in a rough part of town.

At a very young age, George discovered a passion for the performing arts with his first performance as a folklore dancer. He later found his way to the High School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles where he received classical training in Ballet and Modern Jazz. He was discovered by Kenny Ortega, who gave him his first big break, starring in a music video with Elton John called "A Word in Spanish".

At age 15, he reached world wide recognition. He studied at the Vincent Chase Acting Workshop for a number of years before attending the Janet Alhanti Meisner program. His first television action Job was on China Beach (1988). He later guest starred on various television shows through the 1990s until his big break on the feature film Toy Soldiers (1991) in a lead role.