His mother got a job as a speech therapist for the Pasadena school system, while the children pursued acting.
[4] Tom studied at the Young Actors Space and worked with acting teacher Diane Hardin.
[2] After appearing in print advertisements and television commercials, Tom made his film debut with an uncredited role in Plain Clothes in 1988.
[2] Tom played Andy, a young boy suffering from psychosomatic paralysis, in the 1992 TV Movie Stepfather III.
[8] In 1993, Tom played Willi in the historical film Swing Kids, garnering another Young Artist Award nomination.
[11][12] Tom starred as Jacob McKay, a young boy who gets stranded in the Rocky Mountains, in the 1995 film Walking Thunder.
[1] He played David Cass in the TV movie Man of Miracles (also known as Holy Joe), co-starring again with John Ritter.
[2][1] Tom played the role of Billy Abbott on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, from June 1999 to August 2002.
[18] He received a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Outstanding Younger Lead Actor in 2001.
[2] In February 2004, it was announced that he would be joining the cast of One Life to Live as Paul Cramer, replacing Brock Cuchna.