Ashley Johnson

Ashley Johnson
Johnson at Wondercon 2014
Born	Ashley Suzanne Johnson August 9, 1983 Camarillo, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, voice actress, singer
Years active	1990–present

Ashley Suzanne Johnson (born August 9, 1983)^[1] 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.

Early life

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.

Career

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.^[2][3]

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.^[4]

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,^[5][6] and playing Pike in the Twitch.tv series Critical Role.^[7]

As of 2015, she plays FBI forensic specialist Patterson in the NBC drama series Blindspot.^[8]

Personal life

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.^[9]

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.^[10]

Filmography

Film

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[11]

Television

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

Video games

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 BAFTA Award for Best Voice Actress (along with another one for the Left Behind downloadable content)[12]
2014	Infamous First Light	Jenny
2015	Tales from the Borderlands	Gortys
2015	Skylanders: SuperChargers	Gadfly Glades Collector	[13]
2015–present	Minecraft: Story Mode	Petra
2016	Lego Marvel's Avengers	Beth the Waitress	[14]
2016	The Witness		[15]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013–15	Tabletop	Herself	2 episodes
2014	Spooked	Morgan	4 episodes
2015–present	Critical Role	Herself/Pike

References

1. "Behind The Voice Actors - Ashley Johnson". Behind The Voice Actors.
2. "The Avengers deleted scene sees Captain America as a man out of time". flickeringmyth.com. August 30, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
3. "Former ‘Growing Pains’ child star has small-but-important ‘Avengers’ role". movies.yahoo.com. May 4, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
4. Harradence, Michael (March 13, 2015). "The Last of Us voice actress Ashley Johnson's BAFTA speech in full". PSU.com. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
5. "TableTop: Alhambra".
6. "TableTop: Dead of Winter".
7. Salud, April (May 22, 2015). "Critical Role: Episode 11 – The Temple Showdown". Geek & Sundry. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
8. Petski, Denise (March 10, 2015). "Rachel DiPillo To Star In NBC Pilot ‘Cuckoo’; Ashley Johnson Joins ‘Blindspot’". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
9. Dransfeldt, Jeffrey (July 2, 2008). "Local actress has far outgrown her 'Growing Pains' start". Ventura County Star. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
10. "Jonny Lang Recalls Debilitating Demons on ‘Fight For My Soul’".
11. When Marnie Was There (film). 2015.
12. "2015 Games Performer – BAFTA Awards". BAFTA. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
13. Vicarious Visions. Skylanders: SuperChargers. Activision. Scene: Closing credits, 7:13 in, Voice Actors.
14. "Four Reasons Lego Marvel’s Avengers Might Be The Best Lego Game Yet". www.GameInformer.com.
15. Blow, Jonathan (January 14, 2016). "Meet the Voice Actors of The Witness". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 15 January 2016.

External links

• Ashley Johnson at the Internet Movie Database
• Ashley Johnson on Twitter
• Spooked Web Series