Serayah McNeil Serayah McNeil

The character of Tiana on Empire marks her first major acting role. In a 2015 interview with Black Enterprise, McNeill stated of her role, "One thing I always say about this show is it's a lot of drama, but it's family drama so people relate. Every family has some type of drama, and I think that it touches on a lot of the entertainment business and the music business. Some exaggerated parts, but it really does touch on some of the things that happen."She was added to the series regular cast on August 26, 2015.

In 2015, McNeill appeared in singer Taylor Swift's video for the song "Bad Blood" as the character Dilemma. On July 18, 2015, Swift performed a rendition of her song "Style" alongside McNeill on the Chicago stop of her The 1989 World Tour.