The Key Reason HIM’s Director Says Tyriq Withers Was The Right Leading Man, Despite Not Being A Well-Known Actor

HIM is one of the latest films to hit the 2025 movie schedule, and it's wild, to say the least. Helmed by Justin Tipping, the film tells the story of a promising football player who's presented with the opportunity to train with his idol following a major career setback. However, sinister events gradually transpire and major secrets are revealed. Leading the film is up-and-coming actor Tyriq Withers, who stars opposite Marlon Wayans. Withers may not be a household name (yet), but Tipping had a keen reason for casting him as the main character.

While speaking with SFX Magazine on CinemaBlend, Tipping had much praise for his young star, despite his relative obscurity in the entertainment industry. While Hollywood is more apt to tap A-listers for big movie releases, Tipping believes picking someone newer to stardom was the right call because it mirrored the journey of the protagonist, Cam, and his promising career as a professional athlete:

Getting a scholarship offer to play at Florida State after just a year of playing high school football is impressive, and it represents the type of "freak athleticism" sports pundits would talk about regarding promising young talents. It seems being an actual collegiate athlete gave Tyriq Withers perspective on how to play Cam. (However, I doubt Withers ever had to deal with anything quite like what happens in HIM's bonkers ending.)

Withers is also fairly new to the world of film and TV, with his career really only getting started with some credits from 2021. He still has a full career ahead of him and could possibly parlay his roles in HIM and I Know What You Did Last Summer to land even more big movies in the coming years. Until then, he's still getting the lay of the land and apparently still getting used to being around famous people as Justin Tipping continued:

Just sharing the screen with a legend like Marlon Wayans, who is working on Scary Movie 6 at the moment, had to be an absolute trip for an actor. Here's hoping Tyriq Withers was able to soak up knowledge from Wayans on set as well as his upbeat perspective regarding reviews from critics.

CinemaBlend's review of HIM was middling, and other critics weren't too kind. However, Marlon Wayans recently shared an excellent take on his latest film. Wayans candidly noted that many of his movies were trashed by pundits and later went on to gain followings. With that, many of those features are now viewed as classics. With that, the comic and actor encouraged fans to see his scary sports film for themselves.

With so few movies blending sports and horror under the same umbrella, it's hard to know where the mainstream will land on HIM a year from now, or maybe even a decade. Case in point, I think people look back much more fondly at Wesley Snipes and Robert De Niro's The Fan than they did at the time, as the movie ended up being a flop at the box office.

In any case, it's cool to hear the logic behind Tyriq Withers being cast as the lead of HIM and that he was able to relate to the story by way of athletics. I'd love to see Withers put his prowess to use in other sports movies, as I can't help but feel there is a relative lack of those kinds of flicks in Hollywood compared to when I was growing up.

HIM is playing in theaters now. Check it out, and also look at CinemaBlend's list of the best sports movies, for anyone hungry just to see cinema mashed up with athletics.