While Alexis Floyd stepped into scrubs as Dr. Simone Griffith on Grey’s Anatomy, she was also pouring herself into another kind of role—one that reconnected her to her roots as a dancer and reminded her, and so many of us, about the importance of play in the middle of the grind.
In Play Hard, a short film created through Indeed’s Rising Voices program in collaboration with Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions, Alexis stars as Yazmine—a modern dancer whose chance encounter with a workaholic drummer, played by D Smoke, becomes a meditation on art, connection, and balance. Directed by Winter Dunn, the film is an emotional and artistic exploration of what it really means to “work hard” and what gets lost when we forget to play.
As someone who used to dance, this film hit me deeply. It’s rare to see stories that honor the emotional labor behind creativity—and even more rare to see that expressed through movement. What makes this even more special is that Alexis was actively filming Grey’s Anatomy while training and rehearsing for this role. Between early morning rehearsals at Debbie Allen’s Dance Academy and late-night shoots, she found her way back to movement, and it shows in every frame.
I sat down with Alexis and Winter for a conversation that turned into much more than just a Q&A. We talked about the inspiration behind the film, the beauty of creative trust, the challenges of indie filmmaking, and how this project became a space for healing, mentorship, and full-circle magic.
Here’s our conversation.