Who is Paulina Alexis?
Although having just four acting credits to her name, the actress Paulina Alexis has caught the attention of both movie and television viewers. She rose to prominence playing Bunny in the 2021 adventure comedy “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”, which followed the story of a single mom and her two children, who after arriving in a small town discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters.
When it comes to her television roles, Paulina showed her acting skills as Willie Jack in the comedy crime-drama “Reservation Dogs”, which brought her a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2023.
Early life, family, and education
Born under the zodiac sign of Virgo on 7 September 2001, Paulina is today aged 21 (as of March 2023). She was born and raised in Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation Reserve, in Alberta Canada, and is an Indigenous Canadian – a collective name for the original peoples of North America- First Nations, Metis, and Inuit.
Paulina was into acting from an early age, and according to her mother, she was a rambunctious child, and they always had to keep an eye on her, even when they would go shopping. Paulina started to make up skits to act with her cousin, and so one day she’d be a Ninja Turtle or Spider-Man, and next, she would be a character from “The Lord of the Rings”.
When a little older, the family moved to Edmonton, and Paulina experienced racism aimed directly at her. She attended a local school, and was suspended a few times for standing up for herself – having been bullied because of her look and accent, and when boys would harass her, she would punch them.
As a teenager, she began playing hockey, then one day decided that she wanted to be an actress. Upon matriculating in 2019, she didn’t go to college, but launched her acting career.
Acting career
Paulina made her acting debut playing April in the 2020 drama “Beans”, also starring Kiawentiio, Rainbow Dickerson and Violah Beauvais. The film is based on true events and chronicles the 78-day conflict between two Mohawk communities and government forces in Quebec, Canada, in 1990. It had 28 award nominations and won 15, including the Canadian Screen Award for Best Motion Picture.
Finn Wolfhard with co-stars Celeste O'Connor, William Nicholas Bryk and Paulina Jewel Alexis at the Ghostbusters: Afterlife wrap party. Thank you @CarolWolfStark for the tip!
📷: tryingosling via IG pic.twitter.com/xTyi41XZnm
— Finn Wolfhard Updates (@fwolfhardupdate) December 9, 2019
In the following year, Paulina was cast to play Bunny in “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”, starring Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon and Finn Wolfhard. The movie had 21 award nominations, including the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects, and won one.
Later in 2021, Paulina landed the role of Willie Jack in the series “Reservation Dogs”, which followed the story of four Native American teenagers growing up on an eastern Oklahoma reservation. Paulina and her co-stars, Lane Factor, Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and others won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series.
They were also nominated for the Pena de Prata Award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series, while Paulina was nominated for two Pena de Prata Awards – Best Acting in an Underrated Comedy Series, and Best Supporting Acting in a Comedy Series.
Paulina was seen in all 18 episodes of the series, which aired for two seasons until 2022. Concurrently, she was cast to play Immpy in the 2022 psychological drama “Bones of Crows”, written and directed by Marie Clements, which critics called an ‘amazing film about the dark history of the residential school system’. The audience rated it 8.0/10, and the movie had a total of five award nominations, winning three, including the Available Light Film Festival Audience Choice for Best Canadian Feature Fiction.
Her fans will be happy to hear that Paulina will reprise her role as Immpy in the announced TV mini-series “Bones of Crows”, which is currently in development, and should be released by the end of 2023.
Love life and relationships
Paulina is one of those youngsters who prefer to keep their personal matters secret. Although her love life has been the subject of various rumors, she hasn’t commented on these assumptions.
She’s been romantically linked to some of her co-stars from “Reservation Dogs”, including D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, especially when they were seen together at Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show”, however, neither Paulina nor D’Pharaoh commented about their alleged relationship. However, when in the fall of 2021, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and showed the world his girlfriend, Quannah Chasinghorse, an Indigenous Canadian model, that’s when the rumors about him and Paulina stopped.
As of March 2023, it appears that Paulina is single, and doesn’t have children.
Interesting facts about Paulina
Paulina is active on Instagram, and her account has been followed by nearly 165,000 people. She doesn’t have a TikTok account, however, videos related to her have gained over 300 million views on this social media platform.
Perhaps you didn’t know that Paulina taught herself how to ride a horse!
Her character on “Reservation Dogs” was written for a male actor, however, after meeting Paulina, the co-creator of the series, Sterlin Harjo, said that he knew that he found that ‘proverbial someone with that special something’, so after Paulina’s audition, he said that she had to be in the series.
Her Indian name is ‘Wagiya Cizhan’, which means Young Female Eagle.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnxNJylPlkq/
Paulina’s grandfather was Logan Alexis, a renowned singer-songwriter and round dancer. She wants to learn to grass dance, which is a pow-pow dance category typically reserved for male dancers, however, as her mother said, if Paulina wants to do something, she is going to do it.
This dance represents a warrior scouting before a battle, and according to Paulina’s family, she has a strong warrior spirit.
Paulina would eventually like to portray the first ever Indigenous Canadian female superhero.
Paulina is 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, and weighs around 130lbs (60kgs).
Net worth
Starring in a hit movie and making her television series debut on a worldwide popular show, Paulina gained international fame and also has earned a decent amount of money for someone of her age. According to sources, as of early 2023, her net worth has been estimated at over $300,000.
