Beginnings Riggs began acting at age four. His early work included stage productions of
The Wizard of Oz, where he played a
Munchkin in his theater debut, and
Oklahoma with Theater of the Stars at Atlanta's
Fox Theatre. 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 as her son.
The Walking Dead in Manhattan, May 21, 2011 In 2010 at age 10, Riggs was cast as
Carl Grimes, his biggest role to date, on the
AMC 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 on
The Wronged Man. 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 for
Best Cast in a Television Series. For his performance in the series as Carl, Riggs was nominated for the
Saturn Award 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 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 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 supernatural thriller film
Mercy in 2014 and the
Voltage Pictures horror film
Keep Watching in 2017. In 2017, Riggs started
DJing various events around the United States and released his first song "Hold on" under his stage name "Eclipse" in December of that year. That same month, he was cast in the
crime thriller film
Inherit the Viper. He played the role of Cooper in the film, which premiered in 2019. He also starred in the
science fiction thriller film
Only in 2019. In January 2019, Riggs was cast as PJ for a multi-episode arc on the
ABC freshman drama series
A Million Little Things. Riggs, whose character's full name was revealed to be Patrick Nelson, returned for the series' second season. In 2023, Riggs voiced
Superman in the animated film
Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, and in 2024, portrayed
Peter Parker in the
fan film The Spider. In 2024, Riggs starred in the independent film
Breakup Season, marking his first time as a romantic lead, alongside actress
Samantha Isler. He also won Best Cast Ensemble alongside the other 5 members of the film's cast. ==Filmography==