Everyone’s favorite Euphoria cheerleader, Alexa Demie, turns 28 today…or does she?
From her role as Estee in Mid90s to Alexis Lopez in Waves and, of course, everyone’s favorite irreverent cheerleader Maddy Perez in Euphoria, Alexa Demie has mastered the on-screen portrayal of a high school teen. Like her fellow Euphoria “highschoolers” who actually range in age from 23 to 26 years old, Demie is years removed from Maddy in real life. We’re just not sure how many.
If you ask for Google’s input, today is Demie’s 26th birthday. In mid-Euphoria craze interviews from 2019, she was reported to be 24 years old, and her Wikipedia page listed her birthday as “December 11, 1994/1995.” (There is currently no birthday listed on the page.) In 2020, though, she fell subject to a viral conspiracy theory when Internet sleuths uncovered a list of alumni from her high school, which sparked confusion about her age. Demie was apparently listed as a graduate of the class of 2008, which would make her 31 or 32 years old.
While some fans flooded Twitter with meme after meme calling Demie an immortal vampire or an ageless legend, others unearthed rare and seemingly old photos of her with celebrities like Sky Ferreira, Grimes, Azealia Banks, and the trio of elder Kardashian sisters, which made everything even more confusing. When were these photos taken? How did she know these people? How many lives has Alexa Demie lived?
Without a response from Demie, the controversy faded after running its short-lived course, as is the lifespan of many niche Internet jokes. However, Demie’s AgeGate reveals just how fragile the concept of age is in Hollywood, particularly when it comes to women: is a 23 year old’s portrayal of a 17 year old more accurate or venerable than the portrayal of a 17 year old by a woman who could be “pushing 30”? Meanwhile, 30-year-old Chase Stokes from Netflix’s teen drama Outer Banks and 31-year-old Charles Melton from Riverdale both play high schoolers without any controversy.
Whether Demie is in her early 30s or mid-20s, she always looks like an ageless beauty, either on the big screen, the red carpet, or Instagram. In honor of her birthday, revisit Demie’s best age-defying looks.