Mekia Cox

**Mekia Cox** is an American actress and dancer, known for her recurring role as Sasha in the second and third seasons of 90210 and her role as a dancer in the Michael Jackson concert series This Is It and the related film Michael Jackson's This Is It. In 2010, she assumed a supporting role in Lost creator J. J. Abrams's cancelled spy drama, Undercovers.

As a youth, Cox had a history of dance and theater training and experience. Much of her early work was associated with Universal Studios and Nickelodeon. She continued to train in the performing arts in high school and college. Subsequently, she toured nationally in stage productions of musicals such as Fame.

## Background

Cox, a St. Croix native, moved with her family to Orlando, Florida at age seven after spending five years of her youth studying dance in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 1989, Cox was invited to participate in the Disney's Magic Kingdom Christmas Spectacular show. Due to her proximity to Universal Studios, Cox was able to earn roles as a child actor in various Nickelodeon shows such as My Brother and Me, Keenan and Kel, and All That.

Cox was a 1999 graduate of Dr. Phillips High School where she was enrolled in the Visual and Performing Arts magnet program for vocal performance. Cox earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Florida State University in 2003 after being accepted to their Musical Theater program. During her summers she worked at the Heritage Repertory Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia where she played roles in Smokey Joe's Cafe and Anything Goes one summer and performed as a recurring character in Nickelodeon's show Noah Knows Best during another. Other regional theater credits include Rent in which she played club dancer and drug addict Mimi Márquez, the Chicago role of Liz, and Frenchie in Cabaret.

After graduating, she performed the role of Sarah in Ragtime, the musical at Merry-Go-Round Theater in Auburn, New York. Cox then toured nationally for two years as Carmen in Fame as well as revisiting her role as Brenda in Smokey Joe's Café. After touring and landing her first television role she moved to Los Angeles, where she continues to reside. Among her personal interests are learning how to play guitar and painting.

## Television and film career

Prior to her role on *Undercovers* Cox made guest appearances on several television shows. In 2005, she appeared in *CSI: NY*, and *Half & Half*, and she appeared in *One Tree Hill* as Faith in season 3 episode 10 the following year. She also has a role in the marital crisis comedy *Crazy, Stupid, Love.*, which was released in July 2011.

Cox was one of only two women selected for the 11-member dance group from a field of over 500 for the This Is It concert series. She was one of the featured dancers in the documentary film *Michael Jackson's This Is It*. She can be seen dancing with Jackson during the rehearsal of "The Way You Make Me Feel".

During the 2009 second season of 90210 she appeared in six episodes. She also appears in the fourth episode of season three (October 4, 2010). Her 20-something character, Sasha, becomes the controversial love interest of Tristan Wilds' 17-year-old character, Dixon Wilson. The character is a DJ who met his character at a pizza parlor and a party she DJed on a yacht. Dixon led her to believe he was her age. One of the things that helped them bond despite his status as a high school junior was that they had the same cell phone ringtone. Eventually, Cox's character lies about becoming pregnant to keep Dixon from breaking up with her.

On October 29, 2009, she was one of the This is It dancers who appeared on *The Ellen DeGeneres Show* to fulfill host Ellen DeGeneres' birthday wish.

She appeared in all first-season episodes of *Undercovers*. She plays a character named Lizzy Gilliam, who is the sister of the female lead and who is unaware of her family's involvement in Central Intelligence Agency activities. Originally, Jessica Parker Kennedy was cast in the role, but Cox replaced her in June 2010 before the first episode of the first season was aired in September 2010. Her character is described as "Boy crazy". Cox says that Lizzy's character, which spends much of her onscreen time running the family catering business, embodied much of her own true character and described the character as follows: "Lizzy's a good character; very light-hearted, very fun loving, she’s got a good heart and an interesting past and she’s trying to deal with it".

In 2016, Cox appeared in the Modern Family episode "The Cover-Up". On August 23, 2016, Cox joined Chicago Med in a recurring role. She portrays Tiana in the seventh season of *Once Upon a Time*. In August 2017, Cox was promoted to a series regular on the series.

## Personal life

On April 28, 2018, Cox married Britt Leach. In December 2018, the couple had a daughter.

## Trivia

* Growing up, she did theater and danced, which led to her being one of Michael Jackson's dancers at his concerts.
* She appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show as Ellen's birthday wish.
* She danced with Michael Jackson in his song "The Way You Make Me Feel" in preparation for his This is It tour.
* She moved with her family to Orlando after studying dance in the Virgin Islands.
* Actress who was introduced to television audiences as Sasha on the series 90210.