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Alexandra Paul

Alexandra Paul has built the kind of screen career that refuses to stay in one lane. Born in New York City in 1963 and raised in Cornwall, Connecticut, she began as a model in New York before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Although she was accepted into Stanford University, she chose instead to focus on that career. Her early work quickly placed her in the orbit of memorable genre filmmaking. After appearing in the independent Canadian horror film American Nightmare and the television film Paper Dolls, Paul took a leading role opposite Keith Gordon in John Carpenter’s Christine. She followed it with the comedy Just the Way You Are, the sports drama American Flyers, the crime film 8 Million Ways to Die and Dragnet, opposite Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd. For many viewers, however, Paul remains most closely associated with television. She starred on Baywatch from 1992 to 1997, a run that made her one of the show’s most recognizable faces. Her television work also includes Fire Company 132, the final eight episodes of Melrose Place and a 2008 guest appearance on Mad Men. Since 1999, she has starred in 15 films for Lifetime Network. Paul has continued to move between thrillers, horror, comedy and independent productions, with credits including Death Train, Nightwatch, The Paperboy, Spectre, Tethered and Baby Steps. She has also shown a willingness to play off her own screen history, making cameo appearances in Spy Hard and Sharknado: The 4th Awakens. Her work extends beyond acting. Paul co-wrote and co-produced the documentaries Jampacked and The Cost of Cool: Finding Happiness in a Materialistic World, and produced public service announcements promoting electric vehicles for Plug In America. An activist as well as an actor, screenwriter and producer, she has shaped a career that connects mainstream television, genre movies, independent work and environmental concerns without treating any of them as a side note.