Born: August 9, 1983
Age: 41
Birthplace: Camarillo, California, U.S.
Ashley Suzanne Johnson (born August 9, 1983) is an American actress, singer and voice actress. She is best known for her roles as Chrissy Seaver in the sitcom Growing Pains and for playing the daughter of Mel Gibson's character in What Women Want. As a voice actress she is well known for the part of Gretchen Grundler in Disney's Recess as well as for Gwen Tennyson in the series Ben 10: Alien Force, and its two successors Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Ben 10: Omniverse, as well as Terra in Teen Titans and its sequel series, Teen Titans Go!.
In 2012, Johnson played a small role as the New York City waitress Beth who is saved by Captain America in The Avengers. In 2013, she played the role of Ellie in the video game The Last of Us and its DLC Left Behind, for which she won two BAFTA Awards for her critically acclaimed performance. Since September 2015, she is in the NBC drama Blindspot as FBI Forensic Specialist Patterson.
Johnson was born in Camarillo, California, the youngest daughter of Nancy Spruiell Johnson, an independent film producer, and Clifford Johnson, the captain of an exploration ship. Her father died in July 2000 from liver and lung cancer. She is of Swedish, Danish, Irish, Scottish, and Native American descent. When Ashley was nine days old, her father's job took her to Michigan. The family settled in the village of Franklin, among Detroit's affluent northern suburbs. Ashley graduated from high school at 15.
Johnson had a prolific acting career at a young age. Before she was twenty-one years old, she had been in the casts of eight TV series. Her career began at age six, when she played the role of Chrissy Seaver on the sitcom Growing Pains from 1990 to 1992. The character's age was accelerated from a toddler between seasons for plotting purposes. In the one-season Phenom (1993-94), she played the mischievous younger sister of a rising teenage tennis star. Johnson appeared in the 1994 sitcom All-American Girl, which also lasted for only one season. She played DJ's girlfriend Lisa in the 1995 Roseanne episode "The Blaming of the Shrew", and played Alex Marshal, the daughter of Mel Gibson's character, in the 2000 comedy What Women Want. In 2008, she became a regular on the drama Dirt as Sharlee Cates. In 2009, Johnson appeared in "Omega", the season-one finale of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.
In 2012, she appeared in The Avengers (also directed by Whedon) as a waitress who is saved by Captain America (Chris Evans). She reprises this role in the 2016 Lego video game adaptation. Though this was a minor role, the Blu-ray edition of The Avengers contains some deleted scenes that expand her role in the movie, and further her interactions with Captain America.
As a voice actress, she played Sean on the cartoon movie The First Snow of Winter in 1998. Gretchen Grundler on the Walt Disney TV animated series Recess, Terra in the Teen Titans animated series during the show's second season, Jinmay on Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! and Gwen Tennyson on Ben 10: Alien Force and in future variations of the Ben 10 franchise. Four of her roles have love interests who are voiced by Greg Cipes (Chiro in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Kevin in Ben 10, Beast Boy in Teen Titans, and Michelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). She co-starred in the PlayStation exclusive The Last of Us as the character Ellie, which was released to critical acclaim and commercial success. She subsequently won a video game BAFTA for Best Performer and a VGX Award for Best Voice Actress for her role in the game. On March 12, 2015, Johnson won another BAFTA for Best Performer for the same role in the game's downloadable content, The Last of Us: Left Behind.
Johnson appears in several Geek & Sundry shows, including playing occult specialist Morgan on the web series Spooked on Hulu, playing Alhambra and Dead of Winter on the board gaming web series TableTop, and playing Pike in the Twitch.tv series Critical Role.
As of 2015, she plays FBI forensic specialist Patterson in the NBC drama series Blindspot.
Johnson studied violin and piano at the International School of Music; she also plays guitar and cello. When not acting or studying music, Johnson co-runs the photography company Infinity Pictures with her friend, production assistant Mila Shah.
Johnson's older brother Chris worked on the television show The District. Her older sister Haylie Johnson is best known for her role as Haylie on Kids Incorporated. Haylie is married to Jonny Lang.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | Lionheart | Nicole Gaultier | |
1995 | Nine Months | Shannon Dwyer | |
1995 | Annie: A Royal Adventure! | Annie | |
1998 | Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 | Josie Hemphill | |
1999 | Marionette | ||
1999 | Anywhere but Here | Sarah | |
2000 | Indescribable Nth, TheThe Indescribable Nth | Doris | Short film; voice role |
2000 | What Women Want | Alex Marshall | |
2001 | Recess: School's Out | Gretchen Grundler | Voice role |
2001 | Rustin | Lee Wolford | |
2003 | Failures, TheThe Failures | Lilly Kyle | |
2004 | Killer Diller | Angie | |
2004 | King of the Corner | Elena Spivak | |
2005 | Nearing Grace | Merna Ash | |
2006 | Pity Card, TheThe Pity Card | Gretel | Short film |
2006 | Fast Food Nation | Amber | |
2006 | Grad Night | Student | |
2007 | Brothers Solomon, TheThe Brothers Solomon | Patricia | |
2008 | Pie'n Burger | Holly | Short film |
2008 | Otis | Riley Lawson | |
2008 | Columbus Day | Alana | |
2009 | Spread | Eva | |
2009 | Punching the Clown | Tracy | |
2010 | Alleged | Rose Williams | |
2011 | Help, TheThe Help | Mary Beth Caldwell | |
2012 | The Avengers | Waitress Beth | |
2012 | Much Ado About Nothing | Margaret | |
2015 | Paradox | Sophie | |
2015 | When Marnie Was There | Additional Voices |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990-92 | Growing Pains | Chrissy Seaver | 47 episodes |
1993 | Men Don't Tell | Cindy | Movie |
1993 | In the Shadows, Someone's Watching | Blind Girl | Movie |
1993 | Town Santa Forgot, TheThe Town Santa Forgot | Granddaughter (voice) | Movie |
1993-94 | Phenom | Mary Margaret Doolan | 22 episodes |
1994 | All-American Girl | Casey Emmerson | 12 episodes |
1995 | Roseanne | Lisa | Episode: "The Blaming of the Shrew" |
1995 | Annie: A Royal Adventure! | Annie | Movie |
1995-96 | Maybe This Time | Gracie Wallace | 18 episodes |
1996-98 | Jumanji | Peter Shepherd (voice) | 21 episodes |
1997 | Moloney | Katherine 'Kate' Moloney | 3 episodes |
1997 | Wings | Rebecca | Episode: "Ms. Write" |
1997-2001 | Recess | Gretchen Grundler (voice) | 129 episodes |
1998 | Kelly Kelly | Maureen Kelly | 7 episodes |
1998 | ER | Dana Ellis | 2 episodes |
1999 | Partners | Janie | Movie |
2000 | Growing Pains Movie, TheThe Growing Pains Movie | Chrissy Seaver | Movie |
2001 | Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street | Gretchen Grundler (voice) | Video |
2002 | Lloyd in Space | Violet (voice) | Episode: "The Big Sleepover" |
2002 | Roswell | Eileen Burrows | 2 episodes |
2002 | Ally McBeal | Serena Feldman | Episode: "Heart and Soul" |
2002 | Providence | Daphne Wallace | 3 episodes |
2002 | Touched by an Angel | Natalie | Episode: "Bring on the Rain" |
2002 | Guardian, TheThe Guardian | Betsy Fortunato | Episode: "Sacrifice" |
2003 | Kidz History: The Revolutionary War | Colonist | Video |
2003 | Recess: All Growed Down | Gretchen (voice) | Video |
2003 | Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade | Gretchen (voice) | Video |
2003 | Married to the Kellys | Shari | Episode: "Lewis May Have a Girlfriend" |
2004 | Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers | Chrissy Seaver | |
2004 | Married to the Kellys | Shari | Episode: "Chris and Mary Fight" |
2004-05 | Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! | Jinmay (voice) | 6 episodes |
2004-06 | Teen Titans | Terra (voice) | 6 episodes |
2004-10 | King of the Hill | Emily / Jamie | 7 episodes |
2005 | The X's | Kimla | Episode: "License to Slumber" |
2006 | Lilo & Stitch: The Series | Gretchen Gundler (voice) | Episode: "Lax: Experiment #285" |
2007 | Monk | Susie the Maid | Episode: "Mr. Monk Is at Your Service" |
2007 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Dreama Little | Episode: "Ending Happy" |
2007 | Heartland | Rebecca Colton | Episode: "Mother & Child Reunion" |
2008 | Dirt | Sharlee Cates | 4 episodes |
2008 | Middleman, TheThe Middleman | Eleanor Draper | Episode: "The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation" |
2008 | Raising the Bar | Elise Denton | Episode: "Hang Time" |
2008 | Mentalist, TheThe Mentalist | Clara Tennant | Episode: "Seeing Red" |
2008-10 | Ben 10: Alien Force | Gwen Tennyson / Carol Smith / Girl / Mother / Cicely / Mr. Smoothy Employee | 45 episodes |
2009 | Dollhouse | Wendy / Caroline / Hayden Leeds | 2 episodes |
2009 | Cold Case | Grace Stearns | Episode: "The Crossing" |
2010 | Funny or Die Presents... | Girlfriend | Episode: "1.1" |
2010 | Lie to Me | Valerie | Episode: "Beat the Devil" |
2010 | Drunk History | Elizabeth Hamilton | Episode: "Drunk History Vol. 1: Featuring Michael Cera" |
2010 | Christmas Cupid | Jenny | Movie |
2010-12 | Ben 10: Ultimate Alien | Gwen Tennyson / Pierce's Girlfriend / Carol Smith / Fan / Teen Girl / Sunny / Mrs. Rozum / Diamondhead (Gwen) / Clockwork (Gwen) / Humungousaur (Gwen) / Upchuck (Gwen) / Rath (Gwen) | 52 episodes |
2011 | In Plain Sight | Sarah Collins / Sarah Peterschwim | Episode: "Something A-mish" |
2011 | Pound Puppies | Toyoshiko | Episode: "Toyoshiko! Bark Friend Machine" |
2011 | Killing, TheThe Killing | Amber Ahmed | 7 episodes |
2012 | Private Practice | Kelly | Episode: "The Time Has Come" |
2012 | Drop Dead Diva | Veronica Kramer | Episode: "Road Trip" |
2012 | Pound Puppies | Gina | Episode: "The Super Secret Pup Club" |
2012 | Ben 10: Omniverse | 11 & 16-year old Gwen Tennyson / Margie | 21 episodes |
2013 | The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange | Jenny Applesauce (voice) | |
2013 | Pound Puppies | Amelia, Giblet | 2 episodes |
2013 | Teen Titans Go! | Terra (voice) | 3 episodes |
2013 | Masters of Sex | Flora Banks | Episode: "Fallout" |
2014 | Garfunkel & Oates | Jane | Episode: "Speechless" |
2015 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Renet | Episodes: "Turtles In Time" and "Tales of the Yokai" |
2015 | Stalker | Stephanie | Episode: "My Hero" |
2015-present | Blindspot | Patterson | Series Regular |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Teen Titans | Terra | |
2008 | Ben 10: Alien Force | Gwen Tennyson | |
2009 | FusionFall | Gwen Tennyson | |
2009 | Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks | Gwen Tennyson | |
2010 | Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex | Gwen Tennyson | |
2010 | Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction | Gwen Tennyson | |
2011 | Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion | Gwen Tennyson | |
2013 | Last of Us, TheThe Last of Us | Ellie | VGX Award for Best Voice Actress 2013 BAFTA Games Award for Best Performer 2014 BAFTA Games Award for Best Performer |
2014 | Infamous First Light | Jenny | |
2015 | Tales from the Borderlands | Gortys | |
2015 | Skylanders: SuperChargers | Gadfly Glades Collector | |
2015-present | Minecraft: Story Mode | Petra | |
2016 | Lego Marvel's Avengers | Beth the Waitress | |
2016 | The Witness |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013-15 | Tabletop | Herself | 2 episodes |
2014 | Spooked | Morgan | 4 episodes |
2015-present | Critical Role | Herself/Pike |