| Alexandra Grey | |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education: | Crete-Monee High School |
| Alma Mater: | California State University, Northridge |
| Occupation: | Actress, singer |
| Years Active: | 2011–present |
Alexandra Jordan Grey (born January 4, 1991) is an American actress, singer, songwriter and producer.[1] She is best known for her roles as Melody Barnes on the Fox music drama series Empire (2015–2020), Elizah Parks on the comedy series Transparent and Parker Phillip's on the CBS action/adventure series MacGyver (2016-2021). She also portrays Denise Lockwood on the NBC TV medical drama Chicago Med, and had guest roles on Code Black, How to Get Away with Murder, Drunk History and the period television drama series The Alienist.[2]
Grey was born in Chicago.[3] She grew up in foster care.[4] [3] Grey, a trans woman, stated in an interview, "I knew as early as 4 that I wanted to be a girl," but didn't know how to discuss this with her foster parents, stating "In the African‑American community, this stuff is not even up for discussion."
After graduating from community college, Grey initially came out to her foster parents as gay. They were reluctant to accept her sexuality.[5] Once she told them she was transgender, they threw her out of the house. She moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, and lived in an LGBT homeless shelter until she saved enough money to get her own place. She attended California State University Northridge and studied theater.
Grey moved to Los Angeles with the hopes of beginning a career in singing or acting.[6] In 2016, she was cast as Elizah Parks in the third season of Transparent. Grey played a troubled foster youth living in South Central Los Angeles, California who calls Maura, played by Jeffrey Tambor, on the LGBT suicide hotline for help. The season went on to win the GLAAD Media Award for Best Comedy Series and later earned seven Primetime Emmy Nominations in 2017.
Grey also guest-starred on Season 2 of the CBS TV medical drama Code Black as Beth Jensen a young queer woman battling abdominal pains.[7] She then guest-starred on Season 4 of the Comedy Central series Drunk History where she portrayed gay rights activist Marsha P. Johnson. Upon its release, the episode trended on Facebook for two days and was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Individual TV Episode. The same year the episode was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards. Grey was considered for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. On June 3, 2016, it was announced that she was cast alongside Michael K. Williams, Phylicia Rashad, and Whoopi Goldberg to play trans activist and civil rights pioneer Seville Anderson in the ABC mini-series When We Rise. The series was directed by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black. In the fall of 2016, she was cast in a recurring role on Chicago Med, in which she plays Denise, the older sister of head charge nurse Maggie Lockwood.[8] She appeared as a guest star on the legal drama Doubt in 2017 with co-star Dulé Hill. Grey played Delilah Johnson, a woman on trial for the murder of a famous athlete. The story line was based on the real-life story of CeCe McDonald.[9]
As a singer, she opened for Swedish singer-songwriter Zara Larsson in October 2016, and completed a twelve city summer music tour in 2017. She has also opened for Kesha and Jordin Sparks at various pride music festivals.[10]
In 2017, transgender actors and actresses including Grey (with the help of GLAAD and ScreenCrush) were part of a filmed letter to Hollywood written by Jen Richards, asking for more and improved roles for transgender people.[11] [12] Later that year she starred as Lucy Jones in Asher Jelinsky's critically acclaimed short film Miller & Son (2019), which won the BAFTA Student Film Award and gold medal for "Best Narrative" (Domestic) at the 2019 Student Academy Awards.[13] [14]
It was announced in Fall 2018, that she would star as Gossamer Bryant in the new coming of age drama Gossamer Folds alongside Shane West, Yeardley Smith, and Sprague Grayden. The drama tells the story of afriendship between a black midwestern trans woman and a 10 year old kid played by Jackson Robert Scott in 1980s Kansas City. In April 2022, the film was nominated for Outstanding Film – Limited Release at the GLAAD Media Awards. Grey then landed her first national print campaign in 2019 with Absolut to commemorate Pride and 38 years of acceptance with the brand.
In January 2019, she returned to the series Transparent in her role as Elizah Parks on for its fifth season which premiered later that year on Amazon Prime. The series went on to win the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series in 2020.[15] [16] In September 2019, it was announced via Deadline Hollywood that Grey had joined the sixth and final season cast of Empire to play Melody Barnes, a pop singer and songwriter who was signed to Empire Records by Lucious Lyon ten years earlier and has now reemerged under a new label headed by Cookie Lyon.[1] Grey has since recorded five singles on the soundtrack which have all been released exclusively by Hollywood Records. In October, she guest-starred on How to Get Away with Murder where she played Brandi Green, a young woman on trial for the murder of her husband, opposite Viola Davis.
In 2020, she portrayed the fictional character of Alice Tolton in the second season of the TNT drama series The Alienist. Later that year, Alexandra along with several other actors, including Audra McDonald, Sterling K. Brown, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Joe Morton, performed for the Public Theater in NYC the Shakespearean monologue "To Be or Not to Be" from Hamlet in honor of Juneteenth.[17]
Currently, Grey is starring as Lucy Hicks Anderson in the HBO Max miniseries Equal from producer Greg Berlanti.[18] In February, Deadline Hollywood announced that Grey had joined the fifth-season cast of the CBS action/adventure series MacGyver. She played the role of Parker Phillips, an ambitious electrical engineer and the newest addition to the MacGyver team, until the show's cancellation in early April 2021.[19] In the summer of 2021, it was announced that Grey would star opposite Mickey Rourke and Jeremy Luke in the romantic thriller Replica. She will play the main character Tonya, a trans woman whom travels from Mississippi to California to pursue her dreams but finds love in all the wrong places.[20] Variety also announced later in the year that she would lead another romantic thriller, Dope Queens starring opposite Pierson Fodé. The film is set to release in 2022.[21]
In March 2022, Grey starred in a City Center Encores! production of the Broadway musical The Life in her New York City stage debut. She played the main character Queen, an charismatic sex worker whom longs for acceptance and family, adapted and directed by Billy Porter. Before rehearsing with the full cast, she trained with a vocal coach in Los Angeles for four weeks. Grey's role marked the first time a transgender performer lead a production in New York City Center ENCORES twenty-eight year history.[22] [23]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | K-11 | Xandra Kayden | ||
| 2012 | I Do | College Student | ||
| 2013 | Baggage Claim | Kiele | ||
| 2015 | The Fix | Alexis | ||
| 2019 | Miller & Son | Lucy | Student Academy Awards Best Narrative (Domestic) WonBAFTA Student Film Awards Best Live Action Short Film Won | |
| 2020 | Gossamer Folds | Gossamer Bryant | LeadOxford International Film Festival Lisa Blount Acting Award Oxford International Film Festival Honorable Mention for Outstanding Performance Out on Film Jury Award (Best Actress) Won | |
| 2020 | Herself | Documentary film |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | DTLA | Eva | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| 2015 | Glee | Erica | Episode: "Transitioning" | |
| Chasing Life | Kenya Martin | Episode: "As Long as We Both Shall Live" | ||
| 2016–2019 | Transparent | Elizah Parks | Recurring Role Won - GLAAD Media Award for Best Comedy Series (2017) Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical (2017) Nominated - OFTA for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2017) Won - Dorian Award for LGBTQ TV Show of the Year (2017) Won - GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series (2020) | |
| 2016 | Code Black | Beth | Episode: "Life and Limb" | |
| Drunk History | Marsha P. Johnson | Episode: "Bar Fights" Nominated - GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Individual TV Episode (2017)Nominated -Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.(2017) | ||
| 2016–Present | Chicago Med | Denise Lockwood | Recurring Role | |
| 2017 | When We Rise | Seville | Main RoleNominated- GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series (2017),Nominated- 2018 Satellite Awards for Best Miniseries | |
| Doubt | Delilah Johnson | Episode: "Faith" | ||
| 2019 | How to Get Away with Murder | Brandi Green | Episode: Do You Think I'm A Bad Man? | |
| Empire | Melody Barnes | Recurring Role (7 Episodes) | ||
| 2020 | The Alienist | Alice | Sequel series based upon the follow-up novel The Angel of Darkness | |
| Equal | Main Role | |||
| 2020-2021 | MacGyver | Parker Philips | Recurring Role (season 5) | |
| 2022 | The Resident | Thea Dwyer | Guest Role |