Ashley Johnson Biography

Ashley Suzanne Johnson (born August 9, 1983) is an American actress, singer, and voice actress. Johnson is best known for her roles as Chrissy Seaver in the sitcom Growing Pains and for playing Mel Gibson's daughter 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 Gwen Tennyson in the series Ben 10: Alien Force, and its two successors Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Ben 10: Omniverse. Most recently Johnson played the role of Ellie in the video game The Last of Us. In 2012, Johnson played a small role as the blonde New York City waitress Beth who is saved by Captain America in The Avengers.

Early life

Johnson was born in Camarillo, California, the youngest daughter of Nancy Spruiell Johnson, an independent film producer; and Clifford Johnson, who was the captain of an exploration ship and died of lung and liver cancer in July 2000. When Ashley was nine days old, her father's job moved to Michigan. The family settled in the village of Franklin, Michigan, among Detroit's affluent northern suburbs. Ashley graduated from high school when she was 15.

Johnson has an older brother, Chris, who 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 singer Jonny Lang. Both Ashley and Haylie are former Miss Jr. Michigan titleholders, and they currently play in a band together.

Acting career

Johnson had a prolific career at a young age; before she was twenty-one years old, she had already been a part of the casts of eight different TV series. Her acting career began at age six, when she played the role of Chrissy Seaver (whose age was accelerated from a toddler between seasons for plotting purposes) on the television show Growing Pains from 1990 to 1992, where, since the sixth and seventh season, she and then little-known actor Leonardo DiCaprio were the main characters who were added in the show before its cancellation. In the one-season Phenom in 1993-1994, she played the mischievous younger sister of a rising teenaged tennis star. She also appeared in the 1994 sitcom All American Girl, which lasted for only one season, an episode in 1995 on "Roseanne" playing Lisa ("The Blaming of the Shrew") and was Mel Gibson's character's daughter in the 2000 comedy What Women Want. In 2008 she became a regular on the drama Dirt as Sharlee Cates, a starlet whose character is based on pop singer Britney Spears. In 2009, she appeared in Omega, the finale of the first season of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. She also appeared in the show's unaired pilot, Echo.

In 2012, she appeared in The Avengers (also directed by Whedon) as a waitress who is saved by Captain America. Though this was a minor role, the Blu-ray edition of The Avengers contains a deleted scene that expands her role in the movie, and furthers her interactions with Captain America, leaving the possibility of future romantic involvement. Her "small-but-pivotal role" may lead to her returning in future movies as a friend or love interest for Captain America.

Also a voice actress, she voiced 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. Three of her roles have love interests who are voiced by Greg Cipes (Chiro on Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Kevin in Ben 10, and Beast Boy in Teen Titans). She co-starred in the PlayStation exclusive The Last of Us.

Personal life

She attended the International School of Music, where she studied violin and piano; 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. She loves to snowboard and surf, was taught to sail by her father, and is an avid gun shooter.

Credits

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Lionheart	Nicole Gaultier
1995	Nine Months	Shannon Dwyer
1998	Dancer, Texas Pop. 81	Josie Hemphill
1999	Marionette
1999	Anywhere but Here	Sarah
2000	'	Doris (voice)	Short film
2000	What Women Want	Alex Marshall
2001	Recess: School's Out	Gretchen Grundler (voice)
2001	Rustin	Lee Wolford
2003	'	Lilly Kyle
2004	Killer Diller	Angie
2004	King of the Corner	Elena Spivak
2005	Nearing Grace	Merna Ash
2006	'	Gretel	Short film
2006	Fast Food Nation	Amber
2006	Grad Night	Student
2007	'	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	'	Mary Beth Caldwell
2012	The Avengers	Beth
2012	Much Ado About Nothing	Margaret
2015	Paradox	Sophie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990"1992	Growing Pains	Chrissy Seaver	47 episodes
1993	Men Don't Tell	Cindy	TV movie
1993	In the Shadows, Someone's Watching	Blind Girl	TV movie
1993	'	Granddaughter (voice)	TV movie
1993"1994	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	TV movie
1995"1996	Maybe This Time	Gracie Wallace	18 episodes
1996"1998	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	Episode: "They Treat Horses, Don't They?" Episode: "Vanishing Act"
1999	Partners	Janie	TV movie
2000	'	Chrissy Seaver	TV movie
2001	Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street	Gretchen Grundler (voice)	Video
2002	In the Echo		TV movie
2002	Lloyd in Space	Violet (voice)	Episode: "The Big Sleepover"
2002	Roswell	Eileen Burrows	Episode: "Panacea" Episode: "Chant Down Babylon"
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	'	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	Married to the Kellys	Shari	Episode: "Chris and Mary Fight"
2004	Sweden, Ohio		TV movie
2004	Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers	Chrissy Seaver	TV movie
2004"2005	Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!	Jinmay (voice)	6 episodes
2004"2006	Teen Titans	Terra (voice)	6 episodes
2004"2010	King of the Hill	Emily / Jamie	7 episodes
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	'	Eleanor Draper	Episode: "The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation"
2008	Raising the Bar	Elise Denton	Episode: "Hang Time"
2008	'	Clara Tennant	Episode: "Seeing Red"
2008"2010	Ben 10: Alien Force	Gwen Tennyson / Various (voice)	45 episodes
2009	Dollhouse	Wendy / Caroline / Hayden Leeds	Episode: "Omega" Episode: "Echo"
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	TV movie
2010"2012	Ben 10: Ultimate Alien	Gwen Tennyson / Various (voice)	51+ episodes
2011	In Plain Sight	Sarah Collins / Sarah Peterschwim	Episode: "Something A-mish"
2011	Pound Puppies	Toyoshiko	Episode: "Toyoshiko! Bark Friend Machine"
2011	'	Amber Ahmed	6 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	Gwen Tennyson (voice)	Various episodes Appeared in only 7 episodes as guest
2013	The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange	Jenny Applesauce (voice)
2013	Pound Puppies	Amelia Giblet	Episode: "Fright at the Museum" Episode: "When Niblet Met Giblet
2013	Teen Titans Go!	Terra (voice)	Episode: "Terra-ized"

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	'	Ellie