Alexandra Shipp

Alexandra Shipp
Shipp in 2019
Born	(1991-07-16) July 16, 1991 (age 33) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Occupations	Actress singer
Years active	2009–present

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).

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

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

Shipp at WonderCon 2019 for the promotion of Dark Phoenix

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

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

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

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
	Forbidden Fruits †	TBA	Filming [14]

Television

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
2024	Laid	Aubrey	Episode: "More Handsome Than Joe Jonas"

Video games

Year	Title
2019	Telling Lies

Music videos

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

Discography

Singles

Title	Year	Album
"Dirty Long Sleeve Shirt" [15]	2021	TBA

Promotional singles

Title	Year	Album
"30/90" [16] (with Andrew Garfield, Joshua Henry, Vanessa Hudgens, Robin de Jesús and Mj Rodriguez)	2021	Tick, Tick... Boom! (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)

Music videos

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

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2016	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie: Breakout Star	X-Men: Apocalypse	Nominated	[17] [18]
2017	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Squad	X-Men: Apocalypse	Nominated	[19]

References

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. 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. Gomez, Dessi; Grobar, Matt (March 18, 2025). "IFC Films And Shudder Aquire 'Forbidden Fruits' Starring Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, Alexandra Shipp And Emma Chamberlain". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
15. "Dirty Long Sleeve Shirt by Alexandra". Apple Music. 20 October 2021. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
16. "30/90". Apple Music. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
17. "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.
18. 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.
19. "Kids' Choice Awards 2017: The Complete List". E! Online. March 12, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.

External links

• Alexandra Shipp at IMDb