Ian Alexander (actor)

Alexander was born in Salt Lake City, Utah,[1] to a Caucasian father and a mother of Vietnamese descent who migrated to the United States from Vietnam.[2] Due to his father's work with the Department of Defense, his family often moved and has lived in places such as Hawaii, Japan and Washington, DC.[3] During elementary school, he would participate in community theater and chorus.[3] He received viral attention online through his photo response to a transphobic incident perpetrated by four UCLA college students.[4]

Though he was raised in a Mormon family, he is not a participating member.[5] He first came out as transgender in 2014,[6] uses he/him pronouns, and identifies as trans masculine and pansexual.[7]

Alexander's debut acting role was on Netflix's The OA, where he plays Buck Vu. Buck, like Alexander, is also a transgender youth and was partially based on Alexander's real experiences.[8] He was cast from an open casting call online that spread through Tumblr.[9][10][11] Later he was cast in the 2018 feature film Every Day, based on the book by David Levithan, playing Vic, a trans teen whom the spirit "A" inhabits for a day.[12] In October 2017, Naughty Dog announced Alexander had joined the voice cast for The Last of Us Part II, the sequel to their popular video game.[13]

In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, sparking the start of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, Queerty named him one of their Pride50: "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people".[14] Similarly, Alexander was one of the cover stars for them.'s 2019 Pride issue, "spotlighting three rising queer artists whose work and lives are breaking new ground for LGBTQ+ visibility".[15] Ian Alexander will also star in the independent film Daughter alongside Casper Van Dien.[16]

• Ian Alexander on IMDb