Tramell Tillman’s breakout performance as Mr. Milchick in Apple TV+’s Severance is undeniably one of the show’s best, with Season 2 giving him even more time to shine — especially in the season finale. Before Severance, Tillman starred in shows like Dietland and Godfather of Harlem, and is set to make an appearance in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, but he made his feature film debut just last year in the Max original romantic comedy Sweethearts. Directed by Jordan Weiss and co-written by Weiss and Dan Brier, Sweethearts is a fun buddy comedy about two best friends and college freshmen, Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) and Ben (Nico Hiraga), who set out to break up with their high school sweethearts during Thanksgiving break.
Sweethearts splits its time between Jamie, Ben, and their high school friend Palmer (Caleb Hearon), who plans to publicly come out as gay over the break. This is where Tillman’s character, Coach Reese, comes in, as the openly gay high school football coach who shows Palmer that there’s a life to be had as a queer person in suburban Ohio, allowing Tillman to show off his range as an actor in a drastically different and more lighthearted role.
‘Sweethearts’ Is a Teen Buddy Comedy About Moving On

Jordan Weiss’ feature directorial debut Sweethearts follows a familiar formula, taking inspiration from teen comedies like Superbad and Booksmart, and offering a modern twist on When Harry Met Sally… by focusing on a male-female friendship that does indeed remain platonic. Shipka and Hiraga work together brilliantly as Jamie and Ben, two best friends since middle school who wind up going to college together but fail to have the typical freshman experience as they stay in their long-distance relationships from high school. Looking to branch out and realizing their relationships are holding them back, they plan to break up with their significant others over Thanksgiving break, encountering a number of obstacles along the way.

Also over Thanksgiving break, Jamie and Ben are supposed to reunite with their other best friend, Palmer, who spent the first semester of his gap year working in Paris. Upon returning to Ohio, Palmer plans to brag to everyone who will listen about life in Paris, and throws a soirée to officially come out as gay, which goes horribly wrong when his friends fail to show up. Jamie and Ben invite their significant others, Simon (Charlie Hall) and Claire (Ava DeMary), to Palmer’s party, but they quickly get drunk and ditch him. Palmer then spends his night trying to track them down, which is when he runs into Coach Reese, who he finds out is also gay.

Image via Max

Once Palmer’s coming-out party is ruined, he learns an unexpected lesson from Coach Reese, who he realizes – based on his tight jeans, rainbow phone case, and Pete Buttigieg bumper sticker – is also gay. Palmer is shocked to find out Coach Reese is openly gay in their town, assuming his life must be terrible as a gay man living in suburban Ohio, but Coach Reese soon shows him that there’s more of a queer community in Sanford than he thought. Inviting him to meet his boyfriend, Ethan (Joel Kim Booster), and the queer bowling league they belong to, Coach Reese teaches Palmer that he doesn’t have to move to a big city to live a fulfilling life as a gay man, introducing him to a new love interest and giving him the push he needed to ditch his job in Paris and attend college in the spring.

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In Sweethearts, Tramell Tillman’s role as the kindhearted Coach Reese is a far cry from Severance’s calculating yet charismatic Mr. Milchick. Coach Reese is warm, funny, and sympathetic, and Tillman comes across as totally genuine in a way that his performance as Mr. Milchick purposely does not. He has great chemistry with both Hearon and Booster, and his character is essential in Palmer’s journey, teaching him an important lesson about being true to himself at a pivotal moment in his life. It’s a small but important role, and Tillman brings composure and maturity to a chaotic film about young people making mistakes and finding themselves. So if you’re missing seeing Tillman on your TV screen every Thursday, this sweet coming-of-age comedy will show you a much different, lovable side to this scene-stealing actor.

Sweethearts

Release Date

November 28, 2024

Director

Jordan Weiss

Writers

Jordan Weiss, Dan Brier