Tye White

Though his decision to become an actor was not wholly supported (at first) by his family, Tye White proved that the career move was a wise decision, based on his rapid ascent to supporting and lead player on such television projects as "NCIS: Los Angeles" (CBS, 2009-), "The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story" (FX, 2016) and "Greenleaf" (OWN, 2016-). Born in Detroit, Michigan, White was interested in acting from an early age, and performed in school productions, but was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and work in the business field, and after graduating from Brother Rice High School, he dutifully pursued a degree in economics from the University of Michigan. But he also discovered theater during his time with the school, though that career path was soundly discouraged by his father. Again, White respected his father's wishes and entered the investment world as a business banker for Chase Bank. But the pull of acting proved too strong, and against his father's protests, left the job for Los Angeles. There, he honed his talent, repaired his relationship with his father and made his first screen appearances in short films and in occasional television episodes, most notably on "Pretty Little Liars" (ABC Family/Freeform, 2010-17). Four years after arriving in Hollywood, White landed his breakout project with a starring role in "Drumline: A New Beat" (2014), a sequel to the 2002 college drama. From there, his profile rose swiftly to include a recurring role as LL Cool J's son on "NCIS: Los Angeles" (CBS, 2009-) and as O.J. Simpson's son, Jason, on Ryan Murphy's " The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story" (FX, 2016). That same year, White joined the cast of the Oprah Winfrey-produced "Greenleaf," playing the secretly gay husband of Deborah Joy Winans, the black sheep of a large Southern megachurch family.