How ‘Him’ Actor Tyriq Withers Handles Newfound Fame (Exclusive)

New horror movie Him is set in the fanatical world of professional football. Tyriq Withers plays a rising quarterback who, in one skin-crawling scene — spoiler alert! — is attacked by a rabid fan hiding in a sauna. 

Has the actor, at this early stage in his Hollywood career, ever experienced a fan interaction that intense? “No, I don’t have anything like that — hopefully ever,” Withers, 27, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview with a laugh. 

“But yeah, I am aware of the fanatic culture. I have friends in the industry, and I’ve gotten some random texts where you’re just like, ‘Block button!’ ” he continues.

Calling newfound recognition “exciting,” and stan culture “pretty insane,” the star of this summer’s I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot explains that he is “just taking it one day at a time.”

And, he adds, “the block button is there for a reason.”

Him (in theaters now), from producer Jordan Peele and director and co-writer Justin Tipping, costars Marlon Wayans as a legendary but mysterious football legend.

Withers plays Cameron Cade, who joins Wayans and Julia Fox, as Isaiah and Elsie White, at their private compound after a debilitating head injury.

Withers had something of a head start in playing a quarterback onscreen. As a former wide receiver at Florida State University (FSU), he knew the demands of football inside and out.

“I know what it’s like to want to be the best on that field,” he says, drawing a comparison to achieving greatness on camera. 

“Chasing a career in acting, you have to really dedicate a lot of time to the training, to the mental preparation, the emotional turmoil that life has to throw at you, and use that to mold who you want to be in the industry,” adds Withers. 

Embodying Cameron’s “perfectionism,” he continues, couldn’t help but feel personal. “I just wanted everything you see on camera to be real. I didn’t let my double throw a single pass because I really locked in on that training [and] throw like a number one draft pick,” Withers says.

When Cameron is seen in Him getting frustrated over less-than-perfect passes while training with Isaiah, many of those takes “might be real,” Withers explains.

“You throw your arm so much that my elbow started feeling like it was about to break. … I just kind of use the difficulty in training to really bleed into the emotional capacity of the journey that Cameron Cade goes through,” he tells PEOPLE.

What’s Withers’ least favorite training exercise? “I hate anything legs. My legs are really long, so anything where I have to squat — Bulgarian split squat, lunges — I’m giving s— to my trainer all the time,” he says.

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Him also couldn’t help but resonate with Withers because of its emphasis on the sacrifices people must make to excel. The actor — who will next star in the Colleen Hoover romantic drama Reminders of Him (in theaters March 13, 2026) — turned down “job offers to go make six figures” to pursue his craft.

“I went heavy at chasing this dream during 2020,” he explains. “I sacrificed that decision of safety, comfort, and pursued acting, one of the most elusive careers ever, during a global pandemic.”

Now that he’s made a name for himself in back-to-back buzzy horror films, Withers says his goal is clear: “Just keep challenging myself to become a better Tyriq.”

Him is in theaters now.