Alexandra Jordan Grey (born January 4, 1991) is an American actress, musician, and screenwriter. She is best known for her roles as Melody Barnes on the Fox music drama series Empire (2015–2020), Elizah Parks on the Amazon Studios comedy series Transparent (2014-2019), and Parker Phillip’s on the CBS action/adventure series MacGyver (2016-2021). She also portrayed Denise Lockwood on the NBC TV medical drama Chicago Med, and landed guest roles on Code Black, How to Get Away with Murder, Drunk History and the period television drama series The Alienist.
She was born in Chicago. She grew up in foster care. Grey, a trans woman, stated in an interview, "I knew as early as 4 that I wanted to be a girl," but didn't know how to discuss this with her foster parents, stating "In the African‑American community, this stuff is not even up for discussion."
After graduating from community college, Grey initially came out to her foster parents as gay. They were reluctant to accept her sexuality. Once she told them she was transgender, they threw her out of the house.She moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, and lived in an LGBT homeless shelter until she saved enough money to get her own place. She attended California State University Northridge and studied theater.