Alexandra Shipp (born July 16, 1991[1]) is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence for portraying singer Aaliyah in the Lifetime television film Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B (2014) and Kimberly Woodruff in the film Straight Outta Compton (2015).

Alexandra Shipp
Shipp in 2023
Born (1991-07-16) July 16, 1991 (age 33)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active2009–present

Shipp is best known for playing Storm in the X-Men franchise, starting with X-Men: Apocalypse, Abby Suso in the 2018 romantic comedy Love, Simon, and Susan Wilson in musical drama tick, tick... BOOM!

Early life

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Shipp was born in Phoenix, Arizona.[2] Her mother is a Kundalini yoga teacher, and her father James Sr. is a marketing executive. She has two brothers, James and Jordan, and a stepsister, Kasia.[3] Shipp was educated at Squaw Peak Elementary School, Arizona School for the Arts, and St. Mary's Catholic High School in Phoenix.[4] She moved to Los Angeles at the age of 17 to pursue an acting career.[4]

Career

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In 2009, Shipp made her acting debut with a minor role in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. She went on to star in the third season of Nickelodeon's mystery teen drama series House of Anubis, playing the role of KT Rush.

In 2014, Shipp gained attention for her roles as Dani Raymond in the VH1 television film sequel Drumline: A New Beat and Aaliyah Haughton, the title role, in the Lifetime television film Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B.[5] For the latter performance, Shipp also sang. She next portrayed Ice Cube's wife, Kimberly Woodruff, in the biographical drama film Straight Outta Compton, which chronicled the careers of hip hop group N.W.A. In 2016, she co-starred in Bryan Singer's superhero film X-Men: Apocalypse as Ororo Munroe/Storm, a weather-controlling mutant previously portrayed by Halle Berry.[6] In 2018, she starred alongside Nick Robinson and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. in Love, Simon and Kathryn Prescott and Lucy Hale in Dude, both high school comedy films.[7]

She reprised the role of Ororo Munroe / Storm in the 2019 film Dark Phoenix,[8][9] and, the same summer, also starred as Sasha Arias in the Shaft sequel.[10] In 2021 she starred in the film adaptation of tick, tick... BOOM! as Susan.

Shipp starred in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, released on July 21, 2023.[11][12]

Personal life

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Shipp publicly came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in June 2021.[13]

Filmography

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Key
Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2009 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Valentina
2015 Straight Outta Compton Kimberly Woodruff
2016 X-Men: Apocalypse Ororo Munroe / Storm
2017 Tragedy Girls McKayla Hooper
2018 Spinning Man Anna
Love, Simon Abby Suso
Dude Amelia
Deadpool 2 Ororo Munroe / Storm Uncredited cameo
2019 A Dog's Way Home Olivia
Dark Phoenix Ororo Munroe / Storm
Shaft Sasha Arias
Jexi Cate Finnegan
2020 All the Bright Places Kate Finch
Endless Riley Jean Stanheight Also executive producer
Father of the Bride, Part 3(ish) Rachel Banks Short film
2021 Silk Road Julia Vie
Tick, Tick... Boom! Susan Wilson
2022 Space Oddity Daisy Taylor
Asking for It Regina
2023 The Good Half Zoey Abbot
Barbie Writer Barbie
Anyone but You Claudia
TBA Kung Fury 2 Rey Porter Post-production
Midnight TBA Post-production

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2011 Switched at Birth Ashley Episode: "Dance Amongst Daggers"
2012 Victorious Elise Episode: "The Gorilla Club"
2013 House of Anubis KT Rush 41 episodes
2013 House of Anubis: Touchstone of Ra KT Rush TV special
2013 Occult Alana Hutchins Unsold A&E pilot
2013 Awkward Abby Martin Episode: "Less Than Hero"
2014 Ray Donovan Tiffany Episode: "Yo Soy Capitan"
2014 Days of Our Lives Mary Beth 3 episodes
2014 Drumline: A New Beat Dani Raymond Television film
2014 Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B Aaliyah Haughton Television film
2015 Your Family or Mine Lucy Episode: "Pilot"
2020 Make It Work! Herself Television special

Video games

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Year Title
2019 Telling Lies

Music videos

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Year Title Artist(s) Role
2021 "Chance" Hayley Kiyoko Love interest

Discography

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Singles

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Title Year Album
"Dirty Long Sleeve Shirt"[14] 2021 TBA

Promotional singles

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Title Year Album
"30/90"[15]
(with Andrew Garfield, Joshua Henry, Vanessa Hudgens, Robin de Jesús and Mj Rodriguez)
2021 Tick, Tick... Boom! (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)

Music videos

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Title Year Director
"Dirty Long Sleeve Shirt" 2021 John Duff

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2016 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie: Breakout Star X-Men: Apocalypse Nominated [16][17]
2017 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Squad X-Men: Apocalypse Nominated [18]

References

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  1. ^ "Celebrity Birthdays". Arizona Republic. July 16, 2024. p. A2. ProQuest 3080910833. Actor-comedian Will Ferrell, 57. Actor Corey Feldman, 53. Actor Jayma Mays, 45. Actor Alexandra Shipp, 33. See also:
    • "Faces: Famous Birthdays". Minneapolis Star Tribune. July 16, 2014. p. A2. ProQuest 1986768525. Actor Will Ferrell, 47. NFL's Barry Sanders, 46. Alexandra Shipp, 23.
  2. ^ Aquino, Tara (November 12, 2014). "Personality Complex: Alexandra Shipp Goes From Emo Kid to Aaliyah". Complex. Archived from the original on 2015-01-23. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
  3. ^ Lowman, Virginia (July 13, 2015). "Alexandra Shipp's New 'Do". Essence.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Cordova, Randy (November 27, 2014). "Phoenix native Alexandra Shipp plays Aaliyah in TV movie". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  5. ^ Nededog, Jethro (November 15, 2014). "Lifetime's 'Aaliyah' Star Alexandra Shipp on Controversial Role: 'I'm Just an Actress Doing Her Job'". TheWrap. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  6. ^ "'X-Men: Apocalypse' Adds 3 To Mutant Ranks". Deadline Hollywood. January 22, 2015. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  7. ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (November 19, 2015). "Indie Comedy 'Dude' Rounds Out Lead Cast With Trio Of Actresses". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  8. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 14, 2017). "Fox Formalizes Simon Kinberg To Helm 'X-Men: Dark Phoenix'; Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy Back, Jessica Chastain In Talks". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  9. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (March 26, 2018). "20th Century Fox Shuffles Release Dates For 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'Dark Phoenix' & More". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  10. ^ Kit, Borys (20 November 2017). "Alexandra Shipp in Talks to Join Samuel L. Jackson in 'Shaft' Reboot". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 21 November 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  11. ^ Davis, Clayton (2022-03-18). "'Tick, Tick … Boom!' Star Alexandra Shipp Joins Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 2022-03-18. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  12. ^ Donnelly, Matt (2022-04-26). "Margot Robbie's 'Barbie' Sets 2023 Release Date, Unveils First-Look Photo". Variety. Archived from the original on 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  13. ^ Henderson, Taylor (3 June 2021). "Love, Simon Star Alexandra Shipp Comes Out in an Emotional Post". Pride.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Dirty Long Sleeve Shirt by Alexandra". Apple Music. 20 October 2021. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  15. ^ "30/90". Apple Music. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  16. ^ "Teen Choice Awards 2016 "Second Wave" Nominations Announced". Teen Choice Awards. June 14, 2016. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  17. ^ Vulpo, Mike (July 31, 2016). "Teen Choice Awards 2016: See the full list of winners". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  18. ^ "Kids' Choice Awards 2017: The Complete List". E! Online. March 12, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
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