Actor Tyriq Withers is emerging as one of Hollywood's rising leading men, moving from horror and romance blockbusters into the romantic comedy "Love Love", where he stars opposite Isabel May as a US Open ball boy who falls for a tennis star. The 28-year-old former Florida State American football player prepared for the role by studying ball boys at the French Open, and filming begins this month in Queens to coincide with the real US Open, marking a lighter turn after a run of more dramatic roles.

Withers broke through with a 2022 standalone "Atlanta" episode directed by Donald Glover, before roles in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and leads in "Him" and "Reminders of Him", both of which cast him as a footballer wrestling with masculinity and identity. He has also spoken candidly about the 2021 death of his older brother, Kionte, in a car crash, describing the guilt and loneliness of pursuing career success while helping raise his late brother's son, an experience that echoes his role as a grieving guardian in "Reminders of Him".