Tristin Mays (born June 10, 1990) is an American actress. Mays portrayed Riley Davis in the reboot of the ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...

'' series on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

who works as a covert operative for the Phoenix Foundation.

Early life and education

Mays's parents, Viveca and Michael Mays, worked as an artist and in the military, respectively. She grew up in New York City until 2003 when her family moved to

Moreno Valley, California Moreno Valley is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and is part of the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Riverside County by population and one of the Inland Empire's pop ...

, where she graduated from Vista del Lago High School. Her older brother Jeryn is also an actor.Laurie Lucas
"Former Moreno Valley resident stars in the rebooted ‘MacGyver’ TV show"
''The Press-Enterprise'', January 5, 2017.

Career

While best known for her role as Riley Davis on the 2016 TV series ''

'', Mays has played in television series including as Shaina in the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

series ''

Gullah Gullah Island ''Gullah Gullah Island'' is an American musical children's television series aired on the Nick Jr. block from October 24, 1994, to March 7, 2000. The show was hosted by Ron Daise, the former vice president for Creative Education at Brookgreen G ...

'' and as Robin Dixon, the daughter of Marcus Dixon,

Carl Lumbly Carl Winston Lumbly (born August 14, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for '' M.A.N.T.I.S.'' (1994–1997) and has also had television roles on '' Cagney & Lacey'' (1982–1988) and '' Alias'' (2001–2006). He has also had roles in v ...

's character in '' Alias''. Her other television credits include ''

Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' (sometimes shortened to ''Ned's Declassified'') is an American live action sitcom on Nickelodeon that debuted on the Nickelodeon Sunday night TEENick scheduling block on September 12, 2004. The serie ...

'', ''

Everybody Hates Chris ''Everybody Hates Chris'' (stylized in all lowercase) is an American semi-autobiographical sitcom created by Chris Rock and Ali LeRoi that originally aired on UPN from 2005 to 2006, and then on The CW until 2009. The series is based loosely ...

'', ''

True Jackson, VP ''True Jackson, VP'' is an American teen sitcom created by Andy Gordon that aired on Nickelodeon from November 8, 2008, to August 20, 2011. The series stars Keke Palmer, Ashley Argota, Matt Shively, Danielle Bisutti, Greg Proops, Robbie ...

'', ''

Zeke and Luther ''Zeke and Luther'' is an American sitcom about two best friends setting their sights on becoming the world's greatest skateboarders. The show stars Hutch Dano, Adam Hicks, Daniel Curtis Lee, and Ryan Newman. ''Zeke and Luther'' is set in th ...

'', ''

Big Time Rush ''Big Time Rush'' is an American musical sitcom television series created by Scott Fellows that originally aired on Nickelodeon from November 28, 2009, to July 25, 2013, featuring the band Big Time Rush portrayed as a fictional version of th ...

'', ''

Victorious ''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. The series revolves around aspi ...

'' and ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

''. As a seven-year-old in 1997, she joined the cast of ''

'', replacing Shaina M. Freeman as Shaina. That same year, she was cast as Nala in ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...

'' on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. She subsequently played Fan in Dickens' ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

''. In 2009, she was a series regular in the web series ''

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

'' based on the novels of the same name. In 2011, she starred in the internet sitcom ''FAIL'' with fellow ''Gullah Gullah Island'' co-star

Vanessa Baden Vanessa Jennifer Baden-Kelly (; born September 8, 1985) is an American actress, writer, director, and producer. She is best known as a child actress in the Nickelodeon television series ''Gullah Gullah Island'' (1994–1998) and ''Kenan & Kel'' ( ...

. She also appeared in the TV show ''

Impractical Jokers ''Impractical Jokers'' is an American hidden camera comedy and reality show with improvisational elements. Produced by NorthSouth Productions, ''Impractical Jokers'' premiered on truTV on December 15, 2011, starring the members of The Tenderlo ...

'' season 8 episode 5.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, Tristin 1990 births Living people 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New Orleans African-American child actresses American child actresses American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American web series actresses