Ajiona Alexus

Ajiona Alexus Brown was born on March 16, 1996, in Tuskegee, Alabama. She studied Theater Arts at the Alabama School of Fine Arts where she recited her first monologue on stage at the tender age of 8. Starting her career in 2008, she initially gained fame from starring in the TV One sitcom, The Rickey Smiley Show from 2012 to 2014. Subsequently, Alexus made guest appearances in high-profile television shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Code Black. In terms of films, she debuted with a role opposite Robin Givens in the 2014 drama Unspoken Words, followed by roles in several films including My First Love (2015), Bad Girl (2016), and Something Like Summer (2017). From 2016 to 2019, Alexus gained massive recognition for the role of Teenage Cookie Lyon in the Fox musical drama series, Empire. In 2018, she took on the role of Young Melinda Moore in the psychological thriller film Acrimony, starring alongside Taraji P. Henson. In the same year, she also starred in Family Blood and action thriller film Breaking In opposite Gabrielle Union. Other notable roles include Sheri Holland in Netflix's teen drama series, 13 Reasons Why from 2017 to 2018, and a regular cast role in Hulu's supernatural thriller, Light as a Feather in 2018. Most recently, in 2021, she enlisted for the first season of the Starz crime drama series, BMF and is set to star in Real Love and Strength of a Woman in 2023.