Ian Alexander (actor)

Ian Alexander (born April 20, 2001) is an American actor, known for their^[a] roles as Buck Vu on The OA, Lev in The Last of Us Part II, and Gray Tal on Star Trek: Discovery.

Ian Alexander
Born	(2001-04-20) April 20, 2001 (age 24)[1] Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2016–present

Early life

Alexander was born in Salt Lake City, Utah,^[8] to an American father and a Vietnamese mother.^[9] Due to their father's work with the Department of Defense, their family often moved and has lived in places such as Hawaii, Japan and Washington, D.C.^[10] During elementary school, they participated in community theater and chorus.^[10]

Career

Alexander's debut acting role was on Netflix's The OA, where they played Buck Vu. Buck, like Alexander, is also a Vietnamese-American transgender youth and was partially based on Alexander's real experiences.^[11] They were cast from an open casting call online that spread through Tumblr.^[12][13][14] Later they were 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.^[15] In October 2017, Naughty Dog announced Alexander had joined the cast for The Last of Us Part II, the sequel to their popular video game.^[16] They played Lev, a transgender character in the game.^[17]

In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, sparking the start of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, Queerty named them one of their Pride50: "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people".^[18] Similarly, Alexander was one of the cover stars for the 2019 Pride issue of them., "spotlighting three rising queer artists whose work and lives are breaking new ground for LGBTQ+ visibility".^[19] In March 2020, it was announced Alexander will star in the independent film Daughter.^[20]

In September 2020, it was announced Alexander had joined the cast of Star Trek: Discovery; they play the first transgender character played by a transgender actor in the Star Trek canon.^[3][2] Alexander voices Tai, one of Lunella's classmates, in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Tai is revealed to be non-binary in the episode "Check Yourself", as Lunella refers to Tai using they/them pronouns, as well as Tai admitting they are non-binary in the unaired episode "The Gatekeeper".^[21]

Personal life

Alexander was raised in a Mormon family, but they are not a participating member^[22] and consider themself to be agnostic.^[23] They came out as transgender in 2014 and, through the course of their gender transition, identified as trans masculine while using he/him pronouns exclusively.^{[11][12][24][25]} As of September 2020^[update], Alexander adopted the use of they/them,^[26] shortly thereafter identifying as non-binary and preferring the use of they/them while accepting the alternative use of he/him.^{[3][27][28][29][30]}

They received viral attention online through their photo response to a transphobic incident perpetrated by four UCLA college students.^[31]

Filmography

Key	Description
†	Indicates works not yet released

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2016–2019	The OA	Buck Vu and Michelle Vu	TV series; main cast	[9]
2017	Déjà Vu	Lance	Short film; co-writer	[32]
2018	Every Day	Vic	Film
2020	The Last of Us Part II	Lev	Video game; featured voice and motion capture role
2020–2024	Star Trek: Discovery	Gray Tal	TV series; recurring role	[33]
2022	Daughter	Brother	Film	[20]
2023	Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur	Tai	Voice; animated TV series

Notes

1. As of late 2020, Alexander adopted the use of they/them pronouns,^[2] shortly thereafter identifying as non-binary and preferring the use of they/them while accepting the alternative use of he/him.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} This article uses they/them throughout for consistency.