Alexandra Ruth Shipp 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

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

-nominated film '' Straight Outta Compton'' (2015). Shipp is best known for playing

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

in the ''X-Men'' franchise, starting with '' X-Men: Apocalypse'', Abby Suso in the 2018

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

'' Love, Simon'', and Susan Wilson in musical drama '' tick, tick... BOOM!''.

Early life

Shipp was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

. Her mother is a Kundalini yoga teacher, and her father is a musician. Her father is black and her mother is white. She has two brothers, James and Jordan, and a stepsister, Kasia. Shipp was educated at Squaw Peak Elementary School,

Arizona School for the Arts Arizona School for the Arts is a non-profit public charter school in Phoenix, Arizona. Emphasis is placed on a college preparatory curriculum and the performing arts. Its mascot is a one-legged pigeon named Stumpy. History It was founded in 1995 ...

, and St. Mary's Catholic High School in Phoenix. She moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

at the age of 17 to pursue an acting career.

Career

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 Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

's mystery teen drama series ''

House of Anubis ''House of Anubis'' is a mystery television series developed for Nickelodeon based on the Dutch–Belgian television series '' Het Huis Anubis''. The series was created by Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst and premiered on Nickelodeon on 1 Janu ...

'', 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''. 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 N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...

. In 2016, she co-starred in

Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer ...

's superhero film '' X-Men: Apocalypse'' as Ororo Munroe/Storm, a weather-controlling mutant previously portrayed by Halle Berry. In 2018, she starred alongside Nick Robinson and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. in '' Love, Simon'' and

Kathryn Prescott Kathryn Prescott (born 4 June 1991) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Emily Fitch on the E4 teen drama series '' Skins'' (2009–2010) and the titular character in the MTV teen drama ''Finding Carter'' (2014–2015). Career ...

and Lucy Hale in ''

Dude ''Dude'' is American slang for an individual, typically male. From the 1870s to the 1960s, dude primarily meant a male person who dressed in an extremely fashionable manner (a dandy) or a conspicuous citified person who was visiting a rural ...

'', both high school comedy films. She reprised the role of Ororo Munroe / Storm in the 2019 film ''

Dark Phoenix "The Dark Phoenix Saga" is an extended X-Men comic-book storyline published by Marvel Comics, focusing on Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force. It was written by Chris Claremont with art by John Byrne. The Dark Phoenix Saga commonly refers to the s ...

'', and, the same summer, also starred as Sasha Arias in the ''Shaft'' sequel. In 2021 she starred in the film adaptation of '' tick, tick... BOOM!'' as Susan. Shipp is set to star in

Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig (; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and director. She first garnered attention after working on and appearing in several mumblecore films. Between 2006 and 2009, she appeared in a number of films ...

’s ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

.'' It is scheduled for release on July 21, 2023.

Personal life

Shipp publicly

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as a member of the LGBT community in June 2021, though she did not specify a label.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

Discography

Singles

Promotional singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shipp, Alexandra 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Phoenix, Arizona African-American actresses American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Living people LGBT actresses LGBT African Americans LGBT people from Arizona 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 21st-century LGBT people Year of birth missing (living people)