Though many know her as simply an actress, Alexz began her career as just a singer, by performing for her family at age three and then taking vocal lessons, participating in choir, and singing at many sports events at age seven. Noticed for her outstanding talent (a four-octave range and years of vocal -including opera- training), she won tons of awards and was even referred to as the "West Coast Celine".

A So Weird promo

Her big acting break came at age thirteen, when she auditioned for the popular Disney show, So weird. The role of Annie Thielen for season three required ability to sing and act, and of course the show's creators thought Alexz was perfect for the role, so they cast her. Her run on the show lasted for the final season (the show was canceled due to Disney's rule of having only 65 episodes per show). The show sparked an interest in songwriting, and when it was over, Alexz expanded her music career by co-writing songs with one of her older brothers, Brendan.

A Promo from Season one of Instant Star

This brought attention from Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn, producers of Degrassi: The Next Generation, to consider her for the lead role as Jude Harrison in the after-Idol-type show Instant Star in 2004. "It's a lot like American Idol in a sense but Instant Star picks up where American Idol leaves off. What happens after they win the contest. What happens with their career? Who's in control? It exposes the inner-workings of the music business," says Alexz. She was chosen by the show's creators and has been able to express her musical and acting abilities in two seasons since then, drawing a massive amount of fans, and the third season premiered Feburary 17, 2007, on The-N.

Alexz on the set of Instant Star with co-star Tim Rozon.

Even though Alexz performs all the songs on the show's soundtracks, she doesn't write all of them, but has written a few of the popular ones, such as "Skin". She states in a Teen People interview, "I've loved music since I was two years old. My mom said I came out of the womb singing. Music's my passion, way more than acting. And actually the funny thing is I started doing Instant Star so I could buy studio equipment to work on my music in my basement. I lucked out because Instant Star is a music show as well – so I got to write songs for it....All I want to do is have a record and be a legitimate artist. Not do it all. I don't want to be the girl who has the clothing line and the perfume line and the movies. That doesn't interest me. I want to have a record. And I know you have to take certain stepping stones to get what you want to get in life. Instant Star has been such a blessing for me because it opened up so many doors. I was able to come to New York and do a showcase for the major labels. And I wrote songs for the first season of Instant Star, so I was getting the craft down."

Alexz as Erin Ulmer in Final Destination 3

In between the recording studio and set of Instant Star, Alexz has done a few movies, including Selling Innocence and Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, but her silver screen debut was as ill-fated "angry, Goth, mad girl...who is just really...mad" Erin Ulmer in 2006's smash hit thriller Final Destination 3. Her performance earned her superb praise from critics as "the only character you feel sorry for" and even one saying she was "like Parker Posey with raccoon mascara".

Alexz has a debut solo album set for release in October. She already has ten solid songs written for it, along with Brendan. She previously stated in a CTV Extended interview last summer that she wants to drop acting for right now and

Alexz at Olympus Fashion Week in 2006

focus on music, even though acting was a fun experience and paid lots, she cares most about music. As for the album itself, Alexz says the following: "It's kind of hard to explain what it is. The songs are very percussive – symphony stuff and Celtic-sounding. That's the kind of thing I like to write. And I wrote 45 songs in Los Angeles and London. All the songs that are going to be on the record were written with my brother, Brendan. So, right now I want to take a step back and focus on the music and have a record – no matter what happens to it."

As for the drama-packed new season of Instant Star, Alexz has been said to only provide her voice to five of the songs on the entire soundtrack, due to conflicts with Alexz's new record label, the rest going to Tyler Kyte (who plays guitarist Spiederman on the show) and Cory Lee (who plays new frenemy Karma). However, she will be performing all Jude's songs in the actual episodes. It's not officially confirmed, but the soundtrack's release on April 24 will assure who's right. The-N.Com will have exclusive online mini webisodes to go along with every new episode's premiere, so be sure to catch those while they last.

Great Alexz and Instant Star fansites
Alexz Fan
Alexz-Johnson.Net
Alexz Fan
Alexz Johnson.At
Instant Star Online