Tyler Lepley

Tyler Lepley was an American actor born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He played football in high school and at Kutztown University, until his career was ended by a fight with another player and he was convicted with a misdemeanor. This gave Lepley some trouble when he graduated in 2010, as his record was at odds with his criminal justice degree. After working odd jobs, he became a personal trainer in Santa Monica. There, he was discovered by an independent film producer at a boxing gym, and landed his feature film and professional acting debut with a small part in "Slumber Party Slaughter" (2012). That same year, he made his television debut as, fittingly, "Gym Guy" on an episode of "90210" (CW, 2008-2013). Lepley quickly made his big break on Tyler Perry's show "The Haves and the Have Nots" (OWN, 2013-) as a regular character, Benjamin Young. Based on Perry's 2011 play of the same name, the soap drama was OWN's first scripted show. Lepley also played a supporting character in the Paula Patton-led comedy "Baggage Claim" (2013).