Lively played the president's son, Roger Taylor, in 24: Redemption, a television film prequel to the seventh season of 24. He was the main character in The Butterfly Effect 2 in 2006. He was part of the cast of the WB series Modern Men from March until May 2006. He chose a recurring role on The L Word over a regular role on 24 because he felt the subject matter was more important. He took the role on The L Word as documentary filmmaker Mark Wayland. In 2005, Lively was offered two different television roles – on 24 and The L Word. In 2004 he acted in Speak with Kristen Stewart. Lively then became a cast member of the short-lived 2003 Norm Macdonald series A Minute With Stan Hooper. He learned to play the guitar for his character on So Weird. He followed this up on the television series So Weird, on which he played Carey Bell from 2000 to 2001. He guest starred on an episode of Full House at age 13, where he played Stephanie Tanner's first boyfriend. At one time, he was an Abercrombie and Fitch model. He studied photography at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City. After graduating high school, Lively moved to New York City to study photography, his first passion. Lively's first film was as a baby in the 1983 film Brainstorm. All of his four siblings have been in the entertainment industry.

He is the son of actor Ernie Lively ( né Ernest Wilson Brown Jr.) and talent manager Elaine Lively ( née McAlpin). He has a sister, actress Blake Lively, half-sisters Lori and Robyn Lively, and a half-brother, Jason Lively, who played Rusty in National Lampoon's European Vacation. Eric Lawrence Lively was born in Atlanta, Georgia.

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