Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Xavier's first exposure to acting was a location shoot for the T.V. series "Streets of San Francisco" starring Michael Douglas and Karl Malden in 1973, a Quinn Martin Production, at 8 years of age. Since then, Xavier has gone on to study acting in California, New York, Toronto and Ottawa, Canada; most notably with John Strasberg.

Over his lengthy film and television career, with a firm foundation in theatre, Xavier has gone on to appear in over 40 titles ranging from independent films, Canadian PSA's, MOW's for both Hallmark and Lifetime Networks in both principal and lead supporting roles, big budget feature films, and major network episodic television. Most notably, Xavier has had the distinction of being the first Latino male to have sat in the captain's chair in one of television longest running and enduring science fiction franchises, Star Trek, as Captain Diego Vela on Star Trek Discovery on CBS Paramount.