Tyler Lepley

Tyler Lepley is an American actor born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 24, 1985. 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).