Wil Petre was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, and grew up in Bedford Hills and North Salem, just north of New York City. At 18, he was accepted and enrolled in New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for an undergraduate degree in Drama.

While at Tisch, Wil branched out, studying guitar, art, and public policy, while continuing to act and work in the performing arts. He directed three plays while at NYU: Harold Pinter's One for the Road, Heiner Muller's Hamletmachine, and Anthony Neilson's Penetrator, and designed sets, lights and sound for many others. He wrote and starred in a one-man show The Cheese, and before he left college, he went to the Classical Studio, for a intensive year in Shakespeare. After graduating and going to the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Wil moved to Madrid for the fall of 2004.

Upon returning to New York that winter, Wil has worked with Les Freres Corbusier, New Georges, Witness Relocation Company, Revolution Studios, the Discovery Channel, and a slew of downtown theaters, most notably The Flea, Walkerspace, The Ohio, The NY International Fringe Festival and St. Ann's Warehouse.

Aside from the performing arts, Wil enjoys skydiving, oysters, urban renewal, canoeing, short poems, and maneuvering through New York on his bike.