Alexander Xian Cruz Lim (born July 12, 1989) is a Filipino actor, model, singer, musician, host, blogger, filmmaker and professional basketball player. Born in San Francisco, California, Lim and his family moved back to Manila, Philippines six months after his birth. Following his parents' separation, he (age 10) and his mother relocated to Daly City, California. Raised by his mother, a former mod
el turned piano teacher, resulted in Lim learning various musical instruments including piano, trombone, saxophone and guitar. He later joined a symphonic band before graduating high school at age 18. He briefly studied psychology at Skyline College in San Bruno, California, until moving to the Philippines to attend college as a basketball varsity scholar at the University of the East in Manila. Lim was cast in a few minor roles before landing a supporting role in "Katorse" teleserye in 2009. In 2010, he was part of the cast in the drama "Rubi" as Luis Navarro. Then, he guest starred in "100 Days to Heaven" as Jojo Villanueva. He was a guest judge on "Showtime" and had one-episode appearances for "Midnight DJ", "Wansapanataym", "Your Song Presents: Andi" and several appearances on "Maalaala Mo Kaya." In 2011, after a special participation in "Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin" portraying the young Joaquin del Tierro, he landed his first major lead role in "My Binondo Girl" top-billed by Kim Chiu. The romantic-comedy television drama was a nationwide success, garnering an average household TV rating of 28.2% provided by Kantar Media/TNS. In early 2012, Lim signed a three-picture contract with Star Cinema and appeared in the film, "My Cactus Heart". In the same year, he starred in a youth-oriented movie with Enchong Dee, Enrique Gil and Kean Cipriano, entitled The Reunion. He was also back in primetime through the teleserye drama Ina, Kapatid, Anak with Kim Chiu, Maja Salvador and Enchong Dee. He also released his debut studio album So It's You under Star Records which reached a Gold Record status. In 2013, his film "Bakit Hindi Ka Crush Ng Crush Mo?" with his onscreen and offscreen partner Kim Chiu earned Php 10.5 million in the first day of film showing alone, consequentially surpassing the P100 million mark at the box office for the year 2013 in three weeks time. From the outstanding box office sales, the pair obtained the nickname as the newest blockbuster royalties of their generation.[citation needed]
In 2014, his second movie with Kim Chiu entitled "Bride for Rent" earned a whopping Php 21.2M on its first day and Php 100M in just 4 days. The movie eventually grossed Php 326,958,423 during its whole run in theaters which validated the KimXi tandem's box office draw.[
From 2015 to 2017, he has starred in a succession of roles, starting with his voice over for the Filipino release of Paddington, as well as leading and supporting film credits in "All You Need Is Pag-ibig" (2015), "Everything About Her" (2016) and "Sin Island" (2018). After Lim signed a contract with Viva Artists Agency months after his contract with Star Magic expired in mid-2017, he confirmed his directorial debut in his film Tabon, which premiered at the Cinemalaya 2019. He transferred to GMA Network after seen in "Maynila" episodes in 2010. In 2022, he played as Edward dela Guardia" a pregnant husband in "False Positive" mini series with Glaiza De Castro. He also hosted 1000 Heartbeasts : Pintig Pinoy" last March 2021 aired on TV 5.
