Rising Star Jordan Alexandra Of Boiling Point On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry
You don’t need to have gone to Drama School or know everything about film and TV to be worthy/successful. You as an individual are interesting, your experiences shape how you understand others and are able to put yourselves in their shoes and how many films you’ve watched or what school you attended didn’t play a part in that.
We had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Jordan Alexandra. Jordan is an Actor best known for their charm and versatility onscreen, playing many different roles across Drama, Thriller, Sci-fi and Comedy. Currently filming a new project for a popular TV Network, they have recently also been announced as playing the role of Priya Nadir in sci-fi film The Shift. Prior to this, Jordan wrapped filming on the Thriller feature film BlackBits, which was shot in Italy, playing the lead role of ‘Dora’. Jordan can also be seen in Surprised by Oxford, Boiling Point, and ITV’s favourite detective drama Grantchester. Not to mention their roles in Bridgerton, Brave New World, Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and an untitled Netflix production.
Thank you so much for doing this with us Jordan! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us your “Origin Story”? Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
Thanks for having me! I was born in London and grew up outside London in a town called Maidenhead. I lived there with my Mum, Dad and two of my three siblings — my eldest sister would come and visit whenever she could. We spent a lot of our time in London though visiting my grandparents at their allotments or visiting family. I’m also Caribbean, so I was lucky enough to spend most my summers in Barbados visiting the rest of my family! Then when I was 11 my parents and my youngest sibling and I moved to Brazil and lived there for two years. I have a very large family and in lots of different countries, family has always been a core part of who I am, my experiences growing up and I was lucky enough to have some truly inspiring and loving people around me. I feel deep connection to a lot of places, they have all left their imprint on me for sure.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
As a kid I always had a lot of energy, got bored easily and was very imaginative. So I would always make up dances or get my mum to record me singing her songs…I was terrible but she endured it. Then when I was leaving Brazil the school was putting on a performance of Chicago and I remember being gutted that I couldn’t audition for it because I was leaving. From then Acting was probably always in the back of my mind. As I got older I became more curious about people and psychology and that really took my focus. I ended up studying Psychology at University but ultimately I knew I didn’t want a career in it, therefore overtime the only thing that made sense to me was to pursue the thing that I felt still allowed me to study people but had a more creative feel and offered a different way of life. However it was a very scary decisions at the time deciding to commit to it. It felt very out of reach.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I don’t think I could pinpoint one moment. The people I have met along the way have all been incredibly interesting people and I have loved learning about them. Being able to travel to widely un-seen parts of Saudi Arabia though is definitely up there with unique experiences that have only been possible through work.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I wouldn’t say mistakes as anything silly I have done has been a necessary evil in order for me to learn and grow. I did once go to an audition after travelling for 21 hrs and had such bad jet lag that when I had to do my indent I couldn’t even remember my name and I forgot every single line that I otherwise knew by heart. That was a pretty rubbish experience and it knocked my confidence a lot. Definitely taught me that I need to know when to say no and not to push myself too hard.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Aside from my parents, I would say my ex. We met when I was 18 so they really have been on my journey with me from the very beginning and pushed me to take the risk of leaving my full-time jobs, both times. They gifted me my first every acting class too. Most importantly though they have really been my team mate through everything, this career choice can be really unstable and emotionally draining and you have to really maintain your self-esteem and be able to pick yourself up. I am very fortunate that I had someone by my side to remind me that I could do it when I least felt like I could.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but are intimidated by the prospect of constant rejection?
Remember it isn’t personal. A no doesn’t mean you did a bad job or aren’t good enough. If you leave drama school or embark on a career in film and TV and feel entitled and want everything immediately, then the rejection will hit even harder. Patience really is key. Respect your personal growth and mental health, and don’t subscribe to the idea that to be successful we need to live breath eat Acting. I definitely work hard but I really try to respect myself, listen to my body and trust that things will come. You don’t need to suffer, and exhaust yourself to deserve the success. Once you realise that and allow yourself to enjoy the journey the rejections just become part of it, they affect you less because you’re no longer in a state of desperation and expectation.
Every industry iterates and seeks improvement. What changes would you like to see in the industry going forward?
Obviously, I would like to see more inclusion in TV and Film and its been so great to see more of this in recent years. I would love for there to be more money being put behind projects being developed by POC and the LGBTQA+ communities also. whilst projects may be getting green-lit if the funding is low or the budget isn’t there shows inevitably don’t make the numbers they are looking for and get cut. Thats a shame. There are some incredible things being made right now though with the likes of Riches and Dreaming whilst Black. I also feel there is a long way to go within the industry making working life fair for all behind camera also. The hours are long and I think most people would agree that the idea of calling in sick doesn’t exist, unless it’s covid.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
Thank you! I am really proud of everything I have done, every project has taught me something about myself, where I can improve or about the industry in general and I am very grateful for the path my agent Nina and I have created for me. I am working on something really exciting currently, which I can’t discuss yet but it has an incredible team behind it and I can’t wait for people to see it. However moving forward I aim to continue working on projects with teams that are open, kind and inclusive. I want to tell stories about people who don’t follow societal norms and eventually direct film and TV that challenge people’s perception of reality.
As you know, Boiling Point is one of the most popular films of the past few years. In your opinion, what was it that really captured people’s attention about the show?
Boiling point wasn’t just a beautiful watch, it truly was one of the most special experiences to be a part of. Everyone was respected for the role they were playing. I think the relationships everyone built on set and the trust everyone created between each other could be seen in the acting, the direction, the camera skills, production all of it. This trust in each other and the teamwork’s what I think truly made Boiling Point and incredible watch. When everybody has the freedom to do their job and are trusted and respected the final product is always better.
What lessons do you think our society today can take from the theme of Boiling Point?
I think as a society we can focus too much on our individual growth, in this industry even more so, seeing your peers as competition. Whilst individuals growth and development is important we can learn so much from one and other and supporting each other we can all get a lot further and stronger. Boiling Point shows how much being a team, working together and respecting each other is pertinent to a kitchens success. When you start to only think about yourself as Stephen Grahams character Andy Jones did things can start to feel very overwhelming and it has a knock on affect. I personally hope that Boiling Point encourages people to think of success as something we can achieve together, encourages people to ask for help when they need it and reminds people to be kinder to each other.
This is our signature question that we ask in nearly all of our interviews. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
- It’s okay to have a life outside of acting — family, friends your health (mental and physical) are a just as if not more important
- Being yourself and taking risks only make you a better actor — I was scared to be myself in case I would book less auditions or casting wouldn’t be able to see me as a particular character. That’s not the case.
- If you’re goal is ‘to be a great actor’ during a scene then you are going to be the exact opposite — My acting coach John Hughes teaches a course on The Spiritual Acting of Psychology and he always emphasises that as long as you have the purpose of ‘being admired’ ‘being seen as a great Actor’ there is absolutely no room to have the characters purpose in your mind.
- No matter how much someone gets paid, how long they have been in this industry or how much celebrity they have, you both deserve to be respected equally. Respect others and maintain relationships with people in the industry who mutually respect you.
- You don’t need to have gone to Drama School or know everything about film and TV to be worthy/successful. You as an individual are interesting, your experiences shape how you understand others and are able to put yourselves in their shoes and how many films you’ve watched or what school you attended didn’t play a part in that.
Can you share with our readers any self-care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.
Look after your gut — haha this sounds so boring but I love taking probiotics they have changed my life. I am learning to look after my mind and my body, trying to meditate and exercise consistently to respect my mental health needs. The last two years have been really challenging and I decided to focus on me and trying to improve my mental health rather than force myself to keep going and whilst i still have my up and downs, I feel much more cpaable of saying when enough is enough. In the end it only makes me better at my job when I am in a healthier place. Also I use CBD oil to help me manage anxiety! I used to have terrible nerves before auditions and would physically shake but I don’t struggle with this since using CBD to help me manage it and working on meditation etc.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I wish people loved each other more and showed each other more kindness. I feel so often we look at people different to us or outside our networks as ‘other’ but we are ultimately all one. I wish more people had the desire to find out more about others as opposed to feeling threatened by the things they don’t know.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have a power lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
There are lots of people I’d love to speak to! Most of them would probably people that I know personally but would love to know better. However as we are talking about Acting I would choose Barry Jenkins and Tarrel Alvin McCraney they co-wrote Moonlight and that was a movie that resonated with me on so many levels and really changed how I viewed film, story telling. I valued seeing black men on screen grappling with sexuality, I loved feeling like I was seeing moments in someone’s story, seeing people just be. Both the writing and visuals were really eye opening to me and I’d love to know more about the people behind it just out of curiosity. See inside their minds.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
Yess! I am on Instagram at @iamjordanalexandra
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Thank you!
Rising Star Jordan Alexandra Of Boiling Point On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.