Our “Mancrush” goes far beyond just a cute face and nice body. Take actor Tyler Lepley for example: he’s educated, humble, goal-oriented, funny, and more in addition to being nice to look at.
The 31-year-old actor had to overcome quite a few challenges to become the man he is today. After his dreams of going pro in football was cut short, the Philly native moved to LA where it was tough getting a job, but he just eventually found work as a personal trainer. Years later, he auditioned for Tyler Perry after being discovered by a producer at a boxing gym and scored his big break as a character in OWN’s first scripted series, “The Have and the Have Nots.”
Mr. Lepley plays a “Have Not”, Benjamin “Benny” Young, the son of the maid Hanna. Benny is a blue-collar brother and a dutiful man who makes his mother proud.
He’s not only starring in the “Have and the Have Nots,” the handsome star also plays a memorable character in the new STARZ breakout hit, P-Valley.
Lepley joins Brandee Evans, Nicco Annan, Shannon Thornton, Parker Sawyers, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Carolyn Braver, Harriett D. Foy and Elarica Johnson on the provocative stripper drama.
The half Italian, half Jamaican actor has a lot to look forward to and is dedicated to the craft of acting. But he’s no one-trick pony. He has a lot of talent up his sleeve and looks forward to letting it shine on screen.
“I grew up being teased because I was the only black kid in an all-white school,” confess Lepley in an interview with XONecole. “I had to overcome always seeking outside validation because when you don’t get it, you feel like crap on the inside. I’m mixed so growing up, I didn’t know how to do my hair. I was trying to put pomade and hairspray in it and it wasn’t working. Everyone around me said I wasn’t cool but one day I looked in the mirror and I said I liked how I looked. It’s about loving yourself without having to go through someone else to tell you you’re good enough. You shouldn’t have to wait for someone else to say they love you. You have to love yourself and once you get that, there’s a calmness that sets in and you’re just happier.”
“[My parents] taught me not to settle for anything less than what I deserve which is what they have. There’s going to be ups and downs in anything but you guys have to be each other’s rocks. I’ve seen my dad really down before as strong of a man as he is and my mom was right there to lift him up and vice versa. There were times growing up when my mom would come home from work and she needed help and my dad was right there. That synergy to work together to accomplish something bigger is what I would like someday.”
If you can’t get enough of the actor like we can’t. Here are a few more pictures for you below and on the next page.
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