Lexi Alexander facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lexi Alexander
Lexi Alexander, 2015
Born	Alexandra Mirai (1974-08-23) 23 August 1974 (age 50) Mannheim, West Germany
Nationality	Palestinian-American Palestinian
Other names	Lexi Mirai
Citizenship	United States
Occupation	Director
Years active	2002–present

Alexandra Mirai (born August 23, 1974), known as Lexi Alexander, is a German-Palestinian filmmaker and martial artist. She used to compete in karate and kickboxing. Alexander started in movies as a stunt performer. Later, her first short film, Johnny Flynton (2002), was nominated for an Academy Award. She also directed Green Street (2005), a drama about soccer fans, and Punisher: War Zone (2008), based on a Marvel Comics character.

About Lexi Alexander's Life

Growing Up and Family

Lexi Alexander was born in Mannheim, Germany. Her mother was German, and her father was Palestinian. She grew up in Mannheim. Her father was from Ramallah, Palestine.

As a teenager, Lexi was part of a fan group for a soccer team in Mannheim. This experience later helped inspire her movie Green Street Hooligans.

Martial Arts and Stunts

Lexi started learning judo when she was 8 years old. At 14, she switched to Shotokan karate. She has a third-degree black belt in karate.

She was very good at kickboxing. After only two years, she joined the German National Team. She won the German point fighting championships four times. She also won the European championships twice.

In 1994, when she was 19, Lexi became the World Kickboxing Association world champion in karate-point fighting. This happened in Atlantic City.

At 19, she stopped professional fighting and moved to the United States. Lexi had met Chuck Norris at a kickboxing event. He encouraged her to come to Hollywood to act and learn about making movies. He even helped her with her immigration.

With help from martial artist Pat Johnson, she got a role as Kitana in the Mortal Kombat: Live Tour. She toured for seven months in 1995 and 1996.

Lexi then worked as a stunt person. She did fighting stunts, rode motorcycles, and fell from tall buildings. She also learned precision driving and race car driving. In 1994, she taught unarmed combat to the United States Marine Corps.

Lexi Alexander's Filmmaking Career

Starting in Film

Lexi Alexander studied acting in Los Angeles. She also took classes in filmmaking at University of California, Los Angeles.

Her first film as a director was Johnny Flynton. This was a short film that was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003. Lexi said the film was about a boxer and was inspired by meeting a boxer when she was 9. She paid for the film herself. It cost US$35,000 and was filmed in just 5 days.

In 2005, Lexi directed her first full-length movie, Green Street. It was also known as Green Street Hooligans. The movie starred Charlie Hunnam and Elijah Wood. It was produced by Gigi Pritzker and Deborah Del Prete.

Green Street Hooligans was inspired by Lexi's own experiences. She grew up watching her family's favorite German soccer team, Waldhof Mannheim. This made her interested in the sport and its passionate fans. Lexi co-wrote the script with Dougie Brimson and Joshua Shelov. The story was about a fan group of West Ham United.

In 2005, Green Street Hooligans won two awards at the South by Southwest festival. It won both the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature and the Audience Award for Narrative Feature.

Directing Big Movies and TV Shows

In 2008, Alexander directed Punisher: War Zone. Ray Stevenson starred as the Punisher. She was the first woman to direct a Marvel movie. When it first came out, some people thought the movie wasn't very successful. However, it has since become a "cult classic," meaning many fans love it now. Comedian Patton Oswalt was one of the first to defend the film.

Lexi has talked openly about her experience with Punisher. She said the movie's budget was cut a lot. She also felt the marketing budget was low and that releasing it at Christmas was a mistake. Because the film became a cult favorite, she has been offered many scripts with extreme violence. She usually turns these down because she doesn't like too much violence.

In 2010, Alexander wrote and directed Lifted. This movie was filmed in Alabama and had themes of Christianity. It starred Dash Mihok, Nicki Aycox, and Uriah Shelton. Lifted is about a son dealing with his father being sent to Afghanistan as a Marine.

In 2012, Lexi directed an episode for Anthony Zuiker's BlackBoxTV YouTube channel. It was called "Execution Style."

Lexi started speaking out about the lack of women directors in Hollywood on Twitter. This led to her being hired to direct TV shows. In 2015, she directed an episode of Arrow called "Beyond Redemption." In 2016, she directed an episode of Supergirl called "Truth, Justice and the American Way." She also directed an episode of Limitless called "A Dog's Breakfast" in 2016. In 2017, she directed an episode of Taken called "Hail Mary."

In 2016, it was reported that she would direct a movie called Crossface. It was going to be about the life of professional wrestler Chris Benoit. However, in January 2020, Benoit's son said the project was canceled.

In February 2018, it was announced that Lexi was working on a TV series for Blumhouse Productions called You Bury Me. It was planned to be a love story set in war-torn Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

In June 2018, Lexi Alexander was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This is the group that gives out the Academy Awards.

Lexi has a long working relationship with martial artist Pat Johnson. She has hired him as a stunt coordinator and choreographer for her films. Lexi is also a fan of film director Euzhan Palcy.

Speaking Up for Change

In early 2014, Lexi Alexander used her Twitter and a blog post to talk about the small number of women directors in Hollywood. She spoke about how women were not getting as many chances to direct movies and TV shows. Lexi has often talked about sexism in Hollywood. She says she was denied directing jobs because she is a woman. For example, in 2014, she said that she and director Catherine Hardwicke were not allowed to meet about directing The Fighter. The producers were not interested in hiring a woman.

Lexi supported the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) investigation. This investigation looked into unfair hiring practices for women directors. Film schools have an equal number of male and female graduates. However, in the film industry, the percentage of women hired to direct is very low, sometimes less than 6%. In 2015, Lexi shared her experiences as part of an investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Lexi has said she is against illegal file sharing. But she also believes that big companies should not take advantage of digital ways to share movies and shows. She has criticized how the Hollywood entertainment industry fights against piracy. She mentioned that it's hard for her to watch German news in the US, and hard to watch US shows in Germany. She thinks the money spent on fighting piracy could be better used to help more diverse people get jobs and create fairer ways to share content.

Lexi often speaks up for Palestinian rights. In May 2025, she talked about how hard it was to promote a film during the ongoing Gaza War. She also shared her thoughts on Hollywood, saying it promotes liberal ideas but not always when it comes to Palestine.

Personal Life

Lexi Alexander has metal screws in her knees from her time as a kickboxer.

As of 2017, Lexi has been practicing a Russian martial arts technique called Systema.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stunt work

• 1997: Batman & Robin

Awards and Nominations

• 1994: United States Marine Corps, Meritorious Service Award for Outstanding Service and Exemplary Performance of Duty, Trainer, Advisor to Marine Close Combat Instructor Staff
• 2003: Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film (nominee) for Johnny Flynton – with Alexander Buono
• 2005: SXSW Film Festival, Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature for Green Street Hooligans
• 2005: SXSW Film Festival, Audience Award, Narrative Feature for Green Street Hooligans