Merle Dandridge (born May 31, 1975) is an American actress and singer who performed in a number of stage productions, including Broadway musicals Jesus Christ Superstar, Spamalot, and Rent. She is widely known for her role as Alyx Vance in the Half Life 2 game. Dandridge is also known for her recurring role on television series such as Sons of Anarchy and The Night Shift. In 2016, she began starring as Grace Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf. She was the actor for Papa Ge in the 2017 revival of Once on this Island, until January 8, 2018, so she could shoot her television show Greenleaf.