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, the 8-year-old Chavis was nearly kidnapped from outside his home in Long Beach, California while taking out the trash. Chavis was able to fight off his would-be captors and alert a neighbor who then escorted him back home to his mom, who had already called the police. As of 2017, Chavis was homeschooled.
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 Nickelodeon sitcom, The Thundermans. Later that year, Chavis appeared in an episode of The CW's Supergirl. 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 Campwhich starred Adam DeVine. The 2018 theatrical release was cancelled and later streamed on Disney+. He also appeared in Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History which premiered on Netflix in 2019. Chavis also appeared in the short film Skin 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 in Oyelowo's feature film directorial debut, The Water Man. With Chavis as the lead, the film also starred Rosario Dawson with Oprah Winfrey 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.

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