Ashley Suzanne Johnson is an American singer, actor, and voice actress who has gained recognition in a variety of entertainment mediums, including video games, TV shows, and movies. Her most well-known roles are from the television shows Growing Pains, Recess, and Blindspot. Her other notable works include the computer game “The Last of Us,” the TV movie “Annie: A Royal Adventure!,” and the movie “What Women Want.” Ashley entered the entertainment industry as a young performer, coming from a family with generations of musicians. Ashley found it easy to break into the entertainment industry because her mother was an independent filmmaker. With the television series “Growing Pains” and the movie “Lionheart,” she made her debuts on both the small and large screens. She also made appearances in the well-known television shows Blindspot and Phenom. With the TV shows “Recess” and “Ben 10: Alien Force,” the movie “Recess: School’s Out,” and the video game “The Last of Us,” she has also made a name for herself as a voice actor. Her two “BAFTA” honors were taken home by “The Last of Us” and its downloadable companion piece, “The Last of Us: Left Behind.”
Early Life & Childhood of Ashley Johnson
Clifford and Nancy Spruiell Johnson welcomed Ashley into the world on August 9, 1983, in Camarillo, California, in the United States. Her mother was an independent film producer, while her father was an exploratory ship captain. She is their youngest daughter.
When Ashley was nine days old, her father got a new job, and the family moved to Franklin, Michigan. Ashley graduated from high school at the age of fifteen. She lost her father to cancer and hepatitis C in July of 2000.
Her family has a long history in music. She is the granddaughter of Evelyn Johnson, a well-known concert pianist who went by Evelyn Taft. Ashley has had training in classical piano and also plays the guitar and ukulele.
Chris, her older brother, made an appearance in the television series “The District.” Haylie, her older sister, is also an actor and is most recognized for her roles in the American children’s television series “Kids Incorporated.”
Career of Ashley Johnson
Ashley began her acting career at the age of six. She portrayed “Christine Ellen “Chrissy” Seaver,” a member of the ABC comedy “Growing Pains” core cast. Between 1990 and 1992, she appeared in 47 episodes of the show overall.
For her performance as “Chrissy” in “Growing Pains,” she was nominated for three “Young Artist Awards” in 1991, 1992, and 1993. Later, she played the same character in two American made-for-TV reunion movies, Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers (2004) and The Growing Pains Movie (2000), which were based on the television series.
In the meantime, she was cast as “Nicole Gaultier” in the action movie “Lionheart,” starring with Harrison Page, Brian Thompson, Deborah Rennard, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Lisa Pelikan. After its January 11, 1991, release, the movie was a big commercial success.
In all 22 of the episodes of the American sitcom “Phenom,” which ran on “ABC” for a season from September 14, 1993, to May 10, 1994, she played “Mary Margaret Doolan.”
She starred in 12 of the 19 episodes of the ABC sitcom “All-American Girl,” which ran from September 14, 1994, to March 15, 1995, as “Casey Emmerson.”
Ashley played “Shannon Dwyer” in the popular romantic comedy “Nine Months,” starring Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore. The movie was released on July 14, 1995.
In the ABC sitcom “Maybe This Time,” which ran from September 15, 1995, to February 17, 1996, she played the character of “Gracie Wallace.”
Ashley not only carved up a career for herself as an actor through many TV and movie roles, but she also dabbled in voice acting. During the three seasons of the animated TV series “Jumanji,” which aired from September 8, 1996, to March 11, 1999, she had a prominent voice part as “Peter Shepherd.”
She got the opportunity to voice young prodigy “Gretchen Grundler” in the American animated series “Recess,” which ran for six seasons from August 31, 1997, to November 5, 2001, while she was working on “Jumanji.”
She co-starred with Mel Gibson as “Alex Marshall” in the romantic comedy “What Women Want.” With a $70 million budget, the film became a tremendous blockbuster after its December 15, 2000, release, generating $374 million.
She returned to the character of “Gretchen” from “Recess” in 2001, appearing in both the direct-to-video animated “Disney” picture “Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street” and the animated comedy “Recess: School’s Out.” She played the same part in the animated direct-to-video movies “Recess: All Growed Down” and “Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade” in 2003. In 2006, she portrayed the same character in the animated television series “Lilo & Stitch: The Series.”
Her voice work as “Gwen Tennyson” in the animated TV series “Ben 10: Alien Force,” which ran on Cartoon Network for three seasons from April 18, 2008, to March 26, 2010, was one of her most well-known parts. In addition, she returned to the character in two more Ben 10 films, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (2010–2012) and Ben 10: Omniverse (2012–2014).
She has provided the voice for numerous additional productions over the years, including the TV shows Teen Titans (2004–2006), Pound Puppies (2011–2013), Teen Titans Go! (2013–2016), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2015–2017). A few of these are included below.
She began starring in the NBC crime drama series “Blindspot” in September 2015 as “Patterson,” a “FBI” special agent and the chief of the “FBI” forensic science team.
The television shows “Kelly Kelly” (1998), “Dirt” (2008), and “The Killing” (2011–2012) are among Ashley’s other noteworthy endeavors. She has also been in a number of noteworthy movies, including the 2012 superhero movie “The Avengers,” the 2011 historical drama “The Help,” the 2009 sex comedy “Spread,” and the 2012 black-and-white romance comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.”
She made an appearance in the 2008 drama “Juveniles” as “Ms. Taylor.”
One of her next movies is called “Weight,” and it’s due out in June 2018.
Additionally, she starred in the web series “Force Grey: Giant Hunters” (2016) and “Spooked” (2014). She appears in the ongoing online series “Critical Role,” where she first appeared in 2015 as “Pike Trickfoot” and is currently seen as “Yasha.”
She has also provided the voice of multiple video game characters since the middle of 2000. She portrayed “Terra” in the 2005 film “Teen Titans.” In the films Ben 10: Alien Force (2008), FusionFall (2009), Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks (2009), Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex (2010), and Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction (2010), she also portrayed “Gwen Tennyson.” She made an appearance in Marvel Heroes (2015) as “Spider-Gwen.” In the 2016 Lego Marvel’s Avengers film, she also made an appearance as “Beth the Waitress.”
For her role as “Ellie” in the PlayStation exclusive “The Last of Us” (2013) and its downloadable content, “The Last of Us: Left Behind” (2014), she was awarded the “BAFTA Games Award for Best Performer” twice. She was also awarded the “VGX Award” for “Best Voice Actress” for the former.
Individual Life of Ashley Johnson
She studied violin and piano at the “International School of Music,” where she also attended. She has continued to play in other bands. The multi-talented diva, along with her companion Mila Shah, a production assistant, manages a photographic studio called “Infinity Pictures.”
She has been dating American writer, poet, and singer Brian Wayne Foster since 2012.
Net Worth of Ashley Johnson
The estimated net worth of Ashley Johnson is about $2 million.