He was born in Wichita, Kansas to Kent and Kathy Schmidt. He is the youngest of three. His brothers are Kenneth Schmidt and Kevin Schmidt who starred in hit film, Cheaper buy the Dozen, Cheaper buy the Dozen 2 and Princess Protection Program. Schmidt started singing at the age of 5.
Schmidt began his acting career at age six, appearing in a Chex television commercial. When he was 10 years old, he was one of three young actors who was hired to be Haley Joal' Osment's stand-in and body double (they shared the same agent) in the film,A.L. Artificial Intelligence He celebrated his birthday on the set, and Spielberg and the cast surprised him with a birthday cake decorated with Star Wars figures. Schmidt also appeared in Ghost Wisper.
In mid 2009, Schmidt was cast in the Nickelodeon series Big Time Rush as one of the four main characters, Kendall Knight. The show premiered to a record breaking 7.1 million total viewers, making it the highest rated premiere for a live action series in Nick history.
