TYLER LEPLEY

Today, I had the pleasure of meeting Tyler Lepley from The HAVES and the HAVENOTS. In his visit to Atlanta on yesterday, he spoke about him being discovered while working as a personal trainer at a gym a couple months after moving to Los Angeles.

He started going to auditions and eventually landed himself an audition for Tyler Perry’s show on OWN.

The drama follows the complicated dynamic between the rich and powerful Cryer and Harrington families, as well as the Cryers’ hired help — the less fortunate Young family.

Lepley’s character is the son of Hanna, who works for the wealthy Cryer family. Last season, he spent a majority of it in a coma after becoming the victim of a hit-and-run by Wyatt Cryer (son of wealthy candidate for Governor, Jim Cryer). Benny’s mother, Hanna Young, accuses Wyatt of hitting her son and causing the death of a young girl — but Wyatt’s family arranges to have another person take the blame.

In the new season, the devastating consequences of deception and reckless behavior come to fruition, as both the Cryer and Harrington families face personal tragedies that threaten their privileged status. Viewers last saw judge Jim Cryer (John Schneider) as he was carried away from his mansion in a kidnapping perpetrated by his former mistress (and former captive) Candace Young (Tika Sumpter).  Candace wants revenge and money and will stop at nothing to get it.  As the season progresses, Veronica Harrington (Angela Robinson) grows increasingly suspicious that her husband David (Peter Parros) may be unfaithful and continues to reject her gay son Jeffrey (Gavin Houston), stopping at nothing to turn him straight. In addition, Wyatt Cryer’s (Aaron O’Connell) demons resurface and Amanda Cryer’s (Jaclyn Betham) personal crisis comes to a shocking conclusion.  The series also stars Renee Lawless, Tyler Lepley, Crystal Fox and Eva Tamargo. “The Haves and the Have Nots” is created, written, directed and executive produced by Tyler Perry and is produced for OWN by Tyler Perry Studios. Check out a sneak peek preview of the show

Catch all the drama Tuesday nights on OWN (starting January 6) and join the discussion on Twitter using #HAHN. Make sure to also catch up on the hit show “Love Thy Neighbor”. Some of the cast members from Love Thy Neighbor such as Palmer Williams, Jr. and Kendra Johnson also joined the panel on their success of working with OWN and Tyler Perry.  Check out group photos by Briana Crudup for Freddyo !