Alex Paxton-Beesley (born September 24, 1986) is a Canadian actress. She is noted for her acting roles in several TV series, including ''

Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

'', ''

The Strain ''The Strain'' is a 2009 vampire horror novel by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. It is the first installment in ''The Strain Trilogy'', and was followed by '' The Fall'' (2010) and ''The Night Eternal'' (2011). Plot synopsis A Boeing 77 ...

'', ''

Wynonna Earp Wynonna Earp is a horror Western comic book miniseries created and owned by Beau Smith. The series was initially published by Image Comics, and from 2003 by IDW Publishing. Plot summary Wynonna is a present-day descendant of the famous ...

'', ''

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

'' and ''

Pure Pure may refer to: Computing * A pure function * A pure virtual function * PureSystems, a family of computer systems introduced by IBM in 2012 * Pure Software, a company founded in 1991 by Reed Hastings to support the Purify tool * Pure-FTPd, F ...

''.

Early life

Paxton-Beesley was born and raised near the Grange Park neighbourhood of

downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Stre ...

close to the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...

(AGO) which is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her first memory of acting on stage was in a playschool production as a rain cloud. When she was in the fourth grade, she moved to Italy for one year attending school there and learned to speak Italian. On her return to Canada, Paxton-Beesley attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and was involved in a production of ''

Buried Child ''Buried Child'' is a play written by Sam Shepard that was first presented in 1978. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwright. The play depicts the fragmentation of the American nuclear family i ...

'' with the Victoria College Dramatic Society.

Education and theatre work

Paxton-Beesley graduated in 2008 from the

George Brown Theatre School The George Brown Theatre School is a drama school in Toronto, Canada. Providing training in multiple forms and practices of theatre, it is one of the highest-regarded conservatory schools for drama in the country. The school was founded in 1976 as ...

in Toronto, then went on to graduate from the Actors' Conservatory at the

Canadian Film Centre The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization founded by filmmaker Norman Jewison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1988. Originally launched as film school, today it provides training, development and advancement opportunities for pr ...

. Paxton-Beesley has been involved in stage work at

The Company Theatre The Company Theatre is a Toronto-based independent theatre company that produces provocative international plays with Canada's best actors. History The Company Theatre (TCT) was created in 2004 by Canadian actors Allan Hawco and Philip Riccio. The ...

in ''

Festen ''The Celebration'' ( da, Festen) is a 1998 Danish dark comedy-drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and produced by Nimbus Film. The film tells the story of a family gathering to celebrate their father's 60th birthday, juggling subjects of ...

'' in 2008, at the

Canadian Stage Company Canadian Stage is a non-profit contemporary performance arts company based in Toronto, Ontario, ''Canada''. About Canadian Stage Canadian Stage is one of Canada's largest not-for-profit contemporary theatre companies, based in Toronto, Ontari ...

and the

Citadel Theatre The Citadel Theatre is the major venue for theatre arts in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, located in the city's downtown core on Churchill Square. It is the third largest regional theatre in Canada. History It began in a former Salvati ...

on ''

Rock 'n' Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

'' in 2009, and at the Theatre Aquarius in ''The Woman in White''. Paxton-Beesley was nominated and won an Outstanding Actress (Small) MyTheatre Award for her performance in ''Slip'', for Circlesnake Productions, a complex psychological drama in which she played a detective, at the

Harbourfront Centre Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it became ...

: World Stage, Toronto. The production later moved to the

Tarragon Theatre The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country.

, her performance receiving high praise from Theatre Critic Karen Fricker.

TV and film

Paxton-Beesley has performed acting roles in several different TV series, including Young Rebecca in ''

Warehouse 13 ''Warehouse 13'' is an American science fiction television series that originally ran from July 7, 2009, to May 19, 2014, on the Syfy network, and was executive produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins for Universal Cable Productions. Described ...

'' Season 2, ''

'' in 2012, an American Civil War drama, wherein she played Ellen Corcoran for 11 episodes, she also starred as Ann-Marie Barbour in the series 3 of ''

'' by

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Be ...

in 2014, and ''

'' as Hetty Tate, 2016. She played the role of "Red", a brain-damaged shooting victim, in six episodes of the TV series ''

'' in 2018 and in the same year starring as Anna Funk in ''

''. In 2021, Paxton-Beesley played a lead role as Katherine in the TV film ''A Mother's Lie '' alongside

Sonja Smits Sonja Smits (born September 8, 1958) is a Canadian actress. She was nominated for two Genie Awards: for ''Videodrome'' (1983) and '' That's My Baby!'' (1984). On television, she starred in '' Street Legal'' (1987-1992) and '' Traders'' (1996-2000) ...

who played her mother.

Other work

Paxton-Beesley offers advice to budding acting students that they be mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for the reality of rejection in auditions. She was purported to suggest to students at

Niagara College The Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology (frequently shortened to Niagara College and branded as Niagara College Canada) is a public List of Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, College of Applied Arts and Technology with ...

Q-and-A session that of around 400 of her auditions (to 2014) only 10 per cent or so were successful.

Personal life

Her brother Tommy Paxton-Beesley is a musician, better known by the stage name

River Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

."Grolsch Open House , River Tiber"
''ION Magazine'', September 4, 2014.

Filmography

Film

Television film

Television series

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paxton-Beesley, Alex 1986 births Living people Actresses from Toronto Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses