After a career-ending knee injury, he moved to San Diego and became a competitive bodybuilder. Michael stumbled upon acting when he accompanied a friend to an audition for A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989) (which also starred Marnette Patterson). The "acting bug" bit Michael, and he hasn't stopped since. He is currently married to Lisa Smith and has two sons (Bailey Austin Smith, born in 1997 and Hunter Hal Smith, born in 2002). Smith has also maintained a career outside of acting; he currently works for Osram Sylvania as a business development manager.