Lonnie Chavis
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Lonnie Chavis Jr. (born November 23, 2007) is an American teenage actor and activist. He is known for playing young Randall Pearson on NBC's drama, '' This Is Us''. Chavis has been nominated for several awards and shared the win for the
Screen Actors Guild Award Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series with his ''This Is Us'' cast mates. In 2017, he starred in Showtime's short lived sitcom '' White Famous''. In 2020, Chavis starred in his first feature film, '' The Water Man''.


Early life

Chavis was born on November 23, 2007, in Downey, California. Chavis is the son of Najah and Lonnie Chavis. He has three younger brothers. In 2016, an 8-year-old Chavis made headlines when he was nearly abducted from outside his home in
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
while taking out the trash. He fought off his would-be captors and alerted his neighbor who escorted Chavis back home to his mom, who had contacted the police. As of 2017, Chavis was homeschooled.


Career

In 2016, Chavis joined the cast ''This Is Us'' as a young version of Sterling K. Brown's Randall Pearson. In early 2017, Chavis appeared as a guest star in an episode of his favorite show, the
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sitcom, '' The Thundermans''. Later that year, Chavis appeared in an episode of
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's ''
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''. In June 2017, Chavis was promoted to series regular in season 2 of ''This Is Us''. Chavis would go on to star opposite Jay Pharoah in the comedy ''White Famous'', executive produced by Jamie Foxx. Chavis revealed that the series was his first experience with improvisation. Chavis made his feature film debut in Disney's '' Magic Camp''which starred Adam DeVine. The 2018 theatrical release was cancelled and later streamed on
Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
. He also appeared in ''
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'' which premiered on
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in 2019. Chavis also appeared in the short film ''
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'' from Guy Nattiv. The film won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 91st Academy Awards. In 2018, Chavis was cast opposite Jason Wiles in ''Sunny Daze'', which Wiles wrote and directed. In 2019, Chavis was cast opposite Academy Award nominee
David Oyelowo David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awar ...
in Oyelowo's feature film directorial debut, ''The Water Man''. With Chavis as the lead, the film also starred Rosario Dawson with
Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...
attached to executive produce. The film marked Chavis's feature film debut and he credited Oyelowo with making him a better actor. In 2020, Chavis was cast to star in '' The Boy Behind the Door'', a thriller from the writing-directing team of David Charbonier and Justin Powell.


Activism

In June 2018, Chavis posted a video to
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in response to online bullying about the gap in his teeth. Chavis said, "Braces can fix y teeth but like, can you fix your heart, though?" While Chavis assured concerned fans that he could handle negative comments, not everyone could, he said, with some people even being driven to suicide. While his parents typically filtered the comments, the couple showed Chavis one comment and he decided to post the video. The video garnered over 600,000 views with friends and celebrities reposting it using Chavis's own hashtag: #FixYourHeart. In October 2018, Chavis partnered with
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on an anti-bullying campaign. In 2020, Chavis said "This movement is about having the accountability to correct your own actions and be better to others." In 2021, the organization launched a clothing line, for which Chavis models. In the wake of the
Murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...
and the subsequent protests, Chavis, aged 12, wrote a letter to his mother about his experiences with racism in U.S. as he struggled to verbally express his feelings. The letter was later published by ''
People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
'' on June 17, 2020.


Filmography


Film


Television


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chavis, Lonnie 2007 births Living people 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors African-American male child actors American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors People from Downey, California