Tian Richards is a Trinidadian-American actor, hailing from McCormick, South Carolina. His career covers the mediums of film, television and theatre. In 2022, Richards made television history as the first Black queer male lead and title character of a network television series for his work as Tom Swift in the CBS-produced, CW series Tom Swift. The role was introduced in a backdoor pilot of Season 2 in the flagship series, Nancy Drew in 2021. Richards made his film debut in the 2018 Sundance-hit, Burden alongside Forest Whitaker, Garrett Hedlund, and Usher. On film, he subsequently appeared in the Netflix comedy, Dumplin' (2018) and A Bad Mom's Christmas (2017). His other television work includes The Neighborhood (2019), Being Mary Jane (2017), The Quad (2017-2018), 24: Legacy (2017) and the George C. Wolfe-directed HBO biopic, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017) starring Oprah Winfrey. On stage, Richards has appeared in Fat Ham at the Old Globe Theater.