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Ajiona Alexus is an actress on the rise and her performance in Breaking In proves she’s here to stay.
The 22-year-old beauty stars alongside Gabrielle Union in the thriller produced by Will Packer and her character, (Jasmine Russell) is a teenager who finds her inner warrior when she’s forced to fight off intruders who want to harm her and her little brother (Seth Carr).
We caught up with the former 13 Reasons Why star to find out how she got the strength and grit required to pull off the role.
“I would say 100% my family. My family is very brave, from a personal experience. I come from a background of a strong family who always taught me to be strong and take control,” she says.
“Personally, I get that from Gabrielle Union because she’s such an amazing person. She’s so talented. She’s strong. She’s fearless. I think my character, Jasmin, she definitely gets that from her mom. I think it’s important for moms to see that their daughters, whether you notice how you affect them, they look up to you a lot and they take on your characteristics more than you know.”
When it comes to spoiling her own mom on Mother’s Day, Alexus pulls out all the stops.
“I cook for her every time when i can. I wasn’t there for Mother’s Day last year because I was working, but I sent her flowers. I’ll get her massages,” she says. “My mom works so hard so whatever I can do, whatever she tells me she wants, I’m like, ‘I got it.’ She’s my queen. I love my mom.”
In the film, Ajiona Alexus is the ultimate big sister who will stop at nothing to keep her little bro safe. In real life, she’s the youngest child in her family, but she still considers herself the eldest sibling.
“You know how boys are,” she says. “I call him my little big brother because mentally it’s like I’m the oldest.”
She also spoke about how the current trend of black women taking control in Hollywood has inspired her to tae control of her own career.
“I always make sure my career is defined by me and my beliefs. Showing women in a positive light is so important to me,” she explains.
“It’s a blessing and really inspiring for me when they have films like this because there aren’t that many. It’s important to be a part of stuff like that because it opens up more doors and opens up new paths for your people coming after me, like Gab does for me, I do for other people. Let’s keep it going so it can keep growing.”
When it comes to the trend of young people stepping up to tackle social issues, Ajiona Alexus is all about speaking her mind.
“With social media, it’s easy to get brainwashed. It’s easy to get sidetracked by the things you think are important. From the music to everything in society nowadays…it’s just dumbing everybody down,” she says. “We need those few people who are going to be advocates…you need this people because they’re fading out and you forget where you come from.’
Check out the full interview, above.
Breaking In hits theaters May 11.