Chandler Carlton Riggs (born June 27, 1999) is an American actor and DJ, best known for his regular role as
Carl Grimes
Carl Grimes is a fictional character and is one of the main protagonists in the comic book series '' The Walking Dead'' and was portrayed by Chandler Riggs in the American television series of the same name. The character was created by writer ...
on the
AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** ...
horror-drama television series ''
The Walking Dead'' (based on the
comic book series
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
of the same name) from 2010 to 2018. For his work on the series, Riggs won three
Saturn Award
The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...
s from five nominations and a
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
from three nominations.
Riggs has appeared in the films ''
Get Low'' (2009), ''
Mercy
Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...
'' (2014), ''
Keep Watching'' (2017), ''Only'' (2019), and ''
Inherit the Viper'' (2019). In late 2017, Riggs started releasing
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
under his stage name, Eclipse. In early 2019, he began recurring on the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
drama series ''
A Million Little Things
''A Million Little Things'' is an American family drama television series created by DJ Nash for ABC. Produced by ABC Signature and Kapital Entertainment, it features an ensemble cast including David Giuntoli, Grace Park, Romany Malco, Christ ...
''.
Early life
Riggs was born on June 27, 1999 in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
to Gina Ann (née Carlton) and William Riggs.
Riggs studied
tap dancing
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...
for several years with ''
So You Think You Can Dance
''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...
'' finalist
Zack Everhart.
Career
Beginnings
Riggs began acting at age four. His early work included stage productions of ''
The Wizard of Oz'', where he played a
Munchkin
A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. They first appear in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) where they welcome Dorothy Gale to their city in ...
in his theater debut, and ''
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
'' with Theater of the Stars at Atlanta's
Fox Theatre.
At age five, he starred in the
indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
*Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies
*Indie game, any game (board ...
horror film ''Jesus H. Zombie''.
At age nine in 2009, he was cast in his first two feature film roles in ''
Get Low'' as Tom and in the television film ''The Wronged Man'' as seven-year-old Ryan Gregory.
The latter film, which aired on
Lifetime in 2010, saw Riggs acting opposite
Julia Ormond
Julia Karin Ormond (born 4 January 1965) is an English actress. She rose to prominence by appearing in ''The Baby of Mâcon'' (1993), '' Legends of the Fall'' (1994), '' First Knight'' (1995), '' Sabrina'' (1995), '' Smilla's Sense of Snow'' (1 ...
as her son.
''The Walking Dead''
![5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/5.21.11ChandlerRiggsByLuigiNovi2.jpg)
In 2010 at age 10, Riggs was cast as
Carl Grimes
Carl Grimes is a fictional character and is one of the main protagonists in the comic book series '' The Walking Dead'' and was portrayed by Chandler Riggs in the American television series of the same name. The character was created by writer ...
, his biggest role to date, on the
AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** ...
horror-drama television series ''
The Walking Dead'', which is based on the
eponymous comic book series. Riggs had previously worked with the series' executive producer
Gale Anne Hurd
Gale Anne Hurd (born October 25, 1955) is an American film and television producer, the founder of Valhalla Entertainment (formerly Pacific Western Productions), and a former recording secretary for the Producers Guild of America.
Early life
Hu ...
on ''The Wronged Man''.
The series follows
Rick Grimes
Rick Grimes is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the post-apocalyptic comic book series '' The Walking Dead'' and the first nine seasons of the television series of the same name, in which he is portrayed by Andrew Lincoln. Creat ...
(
Andrew Lincoln), the father of Riggs' character Carl, as he and his group of family, friends, and strangers fight to survive in a violent
apocalyptic world populated with
zombie
A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...
s and the few surviving humans, some of whom are even more dangerous than the zombies themselves.
Proving to be a ratings success, the series became the #1 show in all of television among adults 18-49.
Riggs and the other main cast members of ''The Walking Dead'' won the 2012
Satellite Award
The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...
for
Best Cast in a Television Series.
For his performance in the series as Carl, Riggs was nominated for the
Saturn Award
The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...
for
Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television Series five consecutive times and won the award three times in 2014, 2016, and 2018.
In 2014, Riggs also won a
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
for
Best Performance in a TV Series - Leading Young Actor after previously being nominated for the award in 2012 and 2013.
Along with several of his co-stars, Riggs lent his voice to a special episode of ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'' titled "The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who’s Walking" in 2017, reprising his role as Carl.
In late 2017, Riggs was let go from ''The Walking Dead'' when, in a drastic departure from the comic book source material, his character was controversially killed off midway through the series'
eighth season.
Riggs' 77th and final episode of the series aired on February 10, 2018.
Further projects
Riggs appeared in the
Blumhouse Productions
Blumhouse Productions (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH) is an American film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum.
It is known mainly for producing horror films, such as '' Paranormal Activity'', '' Insid ...
supernatural thriller film ''
Mercy
Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...
'' in 2014 and the
Voltage Pictures
Voltage Pictures is an American film production and distribution company founded by Nicolas Chartier in 2005. It has assembled over 180 motion pictures, earning the company a total of two Golden Globe Awards and nine Academy Awards.
Recent fi ...
horror film ''
Keep Watching'' in 2017.
In 2017, Riggs started
DJing
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio
Music radio is a radio format in which music is the main broadcast con ...
various events around the United States and released his first song "Hold Up" under his stage name "Eclipse" in December of that year.
That same month, he was cast in the
crime thriller
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...
film ''
Inherit the Viper''. He played the role of Cooper in the film, which premiered in 2019.
He also starred in the
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
thriller film ''Only'' in 2019.
In January 2019, Riggs was cast as PJ for a multi-episode arc on the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
freshman drama series ''
A Million Little Things
''A Million Little Things'' is an American family drama television series created by DJ Nash for ABC. Produced by ABC Signature and Kapital Entertainment, it features an ensemble cast including David Giuntoli, Grace Park, Romany Malco, Christ ...
''. Riggs, whose character's full name was revealed to be Patrick Nelson, returned for the series' second season.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riggs, Chandler
1999 births
American male child actors
American male television actors
Male actors from Atlanta
Living people
21st-century American male actors
American male film actors
Twitch (service) streamers