 Cretton was born in 1978 in Haiku, Hawaii on the island of Maui, the son of Janice Harue Cretton, a Japanese American hairdresser, and Daniel Cretton, of Irish and Slovak ancestry, who worked for the fire department.He was home-schooled by his Christian mother.He lived in Haiku in a two-bedroom house with his five siblings, including sister Joy, until he was 19 years old.