Sean Thomas Heyman was born in Los Angeles and was raised in Madera, California and later, Santa Monica.

His mother, Mary Pat Preciado, was an actress, and so was his father Barton Heyman, who worked as a successful character actor for over three decades. Sean graduated with a B.F.A. in Acting at University of California at Santa Barbara.

Sean lives in Los Angeles, and is the father of actors Nick Heyman and Samantha Heyman.