[1] He moved to Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, where he started surfing and skateboarding on a semi-professional level, competing in local tournaments.
After high school, Robert wanted to try his hand as an actor and began taking acting classes at the Loft Studio with Peggy Feury and William Traylor.
In 1986, he co-starred with Chris Makepeace in the horror comedy Vamp and with Josh Brolin in the teen sports drama Thrashin'.
He has acted in the 1995 sci-fi video game flight simulator, Wing Commander IV which starred Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell.
Rusler has made guest appearances on television shows ranging from The Facts of Life, Snoops, Cold Case, Medium, The Unit, The Closer, 24, Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Enterprise in the season 3 episode "Anomaly" as Orgoth.