Lexa Doig
Lexa Doig | |
|---|---|
 Doig at Toronto Trek 20, July 7–9, 2006 | |
| Born | Alexandra Lecciones Doig June 8, 1973 |
| Spouse | Michael Shanks (2003-present) |
Lexa Doig (born Alexandra Lecciones Doig on June 8, 1973) is a Canadian TV and movie actor. She portrayed the title role in the Canadian-American Andromeda (TV series) which premiered on October 2, 2000 and concluded on May 13, 2005 after 5 Seasons that included 110 episodes. She portrayed the female lead role of Rowan in the science fiction-horror slasher Jason X (2002), the 10th installment of the Friday the 13th (franchise) film series.
Career
Doig first carved her niche in the entertainment industry at age 16, when she began accepting commercials and other modelling jobs from a talent agent whom she met while completing a modelling training course. The initial media exposure led to her co-hosting the Canadian game show Video & Arcade Top 10, with friend Gordon Michael Woolvett, on YTV (TV channel) from 1991 to 2006. While auditioning for television and film roles, she worked on theatre productions of Romeo and Juliet and Arsenic and Old Lace.
Her first television role was on The Hidden Room in 1993. Her first professional acting role was in 1994 on the TV series TekWar where she portrayed the role of Cowgirl, a specialist in tracking and obtaining information from the global web, opposite the legendary William Shatner. She recalled, "I walked out of the audition absolutely convinced I had blown it, and then my agent called to tell me I got the part. I went leaping around my parents' house and screaming at the top of my lungs. I knew then that I'd chosen the right profession and I've never looked back since."
Her first movie role was in Jungleground (1995) opposite Roddy Piper. After completing guest stints on several popular television shows, including Traders (TV series) in 1996 and Earth: Final Conflict in 1997, Doig landed the role of Tina Backus on the short-lived series CI5: The New Professionals in 1999. She went on to star in the movie "No Alibi" in 2000. She also landed the title role in Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's series Andromeda where she portrayed the Andromeda Ascendant ship's computer in three dimensions - as the ship's powerful AI (artificial intelligence), as the AI's hologram on the system's screen, and as Rommie, the android avatar of the AI. Sometime after appearing in The Chris Isaak Show in 2001, she landed the female lead role in the horror film Jason X in 2002, the 10th installment of Friday the 13th: The Series. Doig also appeared in several episodes for the ninth and tenth seasons of Stargate SG-1 in a recurring role as Dr. Carolyn Lam. She also played a recurring role as college professor Wendy Paulson in the second season of The 4400. Most recently, she played a recurring role as alien physician Dr. Leah Pearlman in the remake of V (2009 TV series).
Doig was nominated for the Saturn Award in 2002 by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA for her acting work in Andromeda and Jason X. She received the 2002 Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award.
Personal life
Lexa Doig was born Alexandra Lecciones Doig in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on June 8, 1973. Nicknamed "Spark," she is the younger child of Gloria B. Lecciones and David W. Doig. Her mother was a Filipino Registered Nurse originally from Dumaguete City, Philippines, and her father who is of Scottish and Irish descent was an Executive Officer in Toronto.[1] Strictly raised a Catholic together with her elder brother Ted - now a professional Senior Software Developer in Toronto - she grew up in Don Mills where the Doigs held season tickets to the local theatre.
As a child, Doig studied rhythmic gymnastics and, as a teenager, she studied American Sign Language. At the age of 6, natural creativity and artistic talent displayed early budding when she wrote and directed her first school play, "Strawberry Shortcake," giving the lead role to her best friend. She developed a strong interest in acting and became inspired to become an actor at age 9 after she watched a theatre production of Porgy and Bess, an opera by George Gershwin. Since then, she participated in as many church and school stage plays as she could do during her growing years. While completing compulsory secondary education at Don Mills Collegiate Institute, she also enrolled in a vocational modelling program where she was immediately offered representation by a talent agent. She accepted and was soon booked in various modelling projects that opened doors to bigger opportunities. She chose to drop out from her final year in high school to pursue an acting career as occupation. Doig is a cousin of American martial artist-stunt performers Rey-Phillip Santos and Rowland Santos.
Lexa Doig dated and then married actor Michael Shanks on August 2, 2003 after the two met and worked together on the sets of Andromeda where the latter was guest star in the episodes "Star Crossed" in 2001 and "Day of Judgment, Day of Wrath" in 2003. The couple has two children: daughter Mia Tabitha Shanks (born September 13, 2004) and son, Samuel David Shanks (born March 19, 2006). They currently reside in Vancouver, British Columbia together with their children Mia and Samuel, Michael's eldest daughter, Tatiana (born in 1998 from his previous relationship with model and actress Vaitiare Bandera), and two family cats.
Doig and Shanks together are actively involved as charity fundraising partners for Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. Recently, the two actors also worked together in the action thriller Tactical Force (2011), with Doig portraying a female LAPD SWAT officer and Shanks playing the role of a Russian mob leader. Fans follow Doig as "LexaShmexa" at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Doig divides her time between Vancouver, where she works, and Toronto, where she grew up. A cigarette smoker, she enjoys reading, rollerblading, and playing role-playing video games and Dungeons & Dragons,[2] in her spare time.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | The Hidden Room | Second Girl | |
| 1994 | TekWar: TekLords | Cowgirl | |
| TekWar | Cowgirl | ||
| 1995 | Jungleground | Spider | |
| 1997 | While My Pretty One Sleeps | Tse Tse | |
| 1998 | CI5: The New Professionals | Tina Backus | |
| 1999 | Teen Sorcery | Mercedes | |
| Ready or Not | Receptionist | ||
| 2000 | Code Name Phoenix | Conchita Flores | |
| Andromeda | Andromeda Ascendant/Rommie | ||
| No Alibi | Camille | ||
| Earth: Final Conflict | Joan Price | ||
| Traders | M.J. Sullivan | ||
| 2001 | The Tracker | Kim Chang | |
| 2002 | The Chris Isaak Show | Detective Lucy Ramirez | TV series, 1 episode |
| Jason X | Rowan | ||
| 2004 | Human Cargo | Rachel Sanders | |
| 2005 | Killer Instinct | Hospital Doctor | |
| The 4400 | Wendy Paulson | ||
| Stargate SG-1 | Dr. Carolyn Lam | ||
| 2007 | Eureka | Dr. Anne Young | |
| Second Sight | Jenny Morris | ||
| 2008 | Ba'al: The Storm God | Pena | |
| The Green Film | The Star | ||
| 2009 | Fireball | Ava | |
| Supernatural | Risa | 5.04 "The End" | |
| 2009 | V | Dr. Leah Pearlman | |
| 2010 | Smallville | Dr. Christina Lamall | 10.06 "Harvest" |
| 2011 | Tactical Force | Officer Jannard | |
| 2012 | Arctic Air | Petra Hossa |
References
- ^ MixedFolks.com - Mixed Actors & Actresses From the Asian Continent Page 2
- ^ Staff (2010). "Lexa Doig". DragonCon. DCI, Inc. Retrieved 2010-05-26.