Tyler Lepley - wikipedia Tyler Lepley Tyler Lepley ( 1987 - 03 - 24 ) March 24, 1987 ( age 30 ) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Residence Los Angeles, California, U.S. Other names Tyler Dinnis Ty Lepley Alma mater Kutztown University Occupation Actor personal trainer Years active 2009 -- present Tyler Lepley ( March 24, 1987 ) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Benjamin `` Benny '' Young on the Tyler Perry produced The Have and the Have Nots ; which is the first scripted television series to air on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 Filmography 4 References 5 External links Early life and education Lepley was born and raised in Philadelphia by his mother and stepfather, who has been in his life since the age of 6. Lepley is Italian on his mother 's side and Jamaican on his biological father 's side. Lepley revealed that he was teased as a child because he was the only black kid in his school. He graduated from Central Bucks High School West in Doylestown. Lepley did several sports including track, football, basketball, karate -- as a young child -- and boxing but focused more on football as he got older. Lepley played football in high school under the name Tyler Dinnis. In June 2003, he suffered an injury which nearly ended his football career and later underwent surgery. By the summer of 2004, Lepley was back on the field and was selected as the MVP at sports camp for Villanova University. He attended Kutztown University on a football scholarship. Lepley played football for the university until the fall of 2007 when he and another player were suspended for fighting. While Lepley was reinstated to the college, his football career was over and he was charged with a misdemeanor. Lepley went on to graduate from Kutztown in 2010 with a degree in criminal justice. But because of his record, Lepley could not find a job in the field. Instead, he found work as gas station attendant, at sandwich shop and also worked as a bookie. Knowing it would not end well, Lepley accepted a friend 's offer to relocate to Los Angeles in 2011 and found work as a personal trainer at Iron Fitness Gym in Santa Monica. Career About three months after he settled in Los Angeles, Lepley was discovered by a producer at a boxing gym who invited him to audition. From that meeting, he booked a lead role in an independent horror movie, Slumber Party Slaughter. Lepley, reluctantly took his agent 's advice to get serious about acting and enrolled in acting classes and he soon made appearances in CBS 's CSI : Crime Scene Investigation and The CW 's 90210. In 2013, he booked the role of Benny on Tyler Perry 's The Haves and the Have Nots after a four month long casting process. Lepley was quite surprised when Perry came to the audition dressed as his famous Madea character because he was shooting a movie at the time. Lepley also appeared in the 2013 comedy Baggage Claim starring Paula Patton. In early 2016, Lepley booked the lead role of Jaxon in the made for television film, produced by Swirl Films Ringside, directed by Russ Parr. The film premiered in September 2016 TV One. His costars included Everybody Hates Chris actor Tequan Richmond and R&B singer Sevyn Streeter. Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2012 Slumber Party Slaughter Tyrese Independent film 2012 Dirty People Detective Dave Short film 2012 90210 Gym Guy Episode : `` It 's All Fun and Games '' 2013 Sake - Bomb Bar patron N / A 2013 - present The Haves and the Have Nots Benny Young Series regular 2013 Baggage Claim Curtis Supporting role 2013 Hollywood Chaos Victor Reins Supporting role 2016 Ringside Jaxon Holley Television film 2017 You Cheating Boyfriend Keyshia Cole Video References Jump up ^ Lepley, Tyler ( @ TyLepley ) ( 24 March 2015 ). `` Tyler Lepley on Twitter : `` How cool ! My 28th birthday... Hands down the best ever ! Overwhelmed w the love of my family. Words... t.co/UI5vdZZ6rB '' '' ( Tweet ). Retrieved January 12, 2017 -- via Twitter. ^ Jump up to : Armstrong, Jenice ( June 17, 2013 ). `` Celebrating Success : An actor almost by accident, Doylestown 's Ty Lepley is determined to make it ''. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia Media Network. Archived from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Jaclyn Betham & Ty Lepley -- The DOPE MAG Interviews ''. Pure DOPE Magazine. July 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2017. ^ Jump up to : D'Amour, Zon ( June 22, 2016 ). `` Off The Field And On Set With Actor Tyler Lepley ''. Los Angeles Sentinel. Retrieved January 3, 2017. ^ Jump up to : Taylor, Jenelle ( September 4, 2016 ). `` From East To West : Tyler Lepley Rises To His First Lead Role On TV One 's ' Ringside ' ''. Vibe. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 3, 2017. ^ Jump up to : `` Breaking Out & Breaking Hearts ''. Kover Story. Krave : 6 -- 10. October 2014. Jump up ^ Santoliquito, Joe ( October 15, 2004 ). `` Making up for lost time C.B. West 's Tyler Dinnis is on a tear ''. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia Media Network. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2016. ^ Jump up to : Lobo, Demi ; Whaley, Kacie ( March 3, 2016 ). `` TYLER LEPLEY : FROM PERSONAL TRAINER TO UNEXPECTED TV STAR ''. Rolling Out. Retrieved August 21, 2016. Jump up ^ Callaway, Brian ; Gamiz, Manuel ( October 31, 2007 ). `` Police : Two Kutztown football players attacked man ''. The Morning Call. Tribune Media. Retrieved January 2, 2017. ^ Jump up to : `` Focus Feature : Tyler Lepley ''. Hydrogen Mag. June 21, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2016. External links Tyler Lepley on IMDb Biography portal Philadelphia portal Film portal Television portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tyler_Lepley&oldid=776251718 '' Categories : 1987 births Male actors from Philadelphia American male television actors Living people American people of Italian descent American people of Jamaican descent Kutztown University of Pennsylvania alumni Hidden categories : Articles with hCards Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 19 April 2017, at 21 : 25. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who plays benny on have and have nots
Answer: Tyler Lepley