Ashley Johnson

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3 Mar 2024

Ashley Johnson

Ashley Suzanne Johnson, born on August 9, 1983, is an American actress known for her versatile career in both television and voice acting.
She gained recognition as a child actress for her role as Chrissy Seaver on the sitcom "Growing Pains" from 1990 to 1992. In her adult years, Johnson's television credits include portraying Amber Ahmed on "The Killing" from 2011 to 2012 and Patterson on "Blindspot" from 2015 to 2020. She has also appeared in notable films such as "What Women Want" (2000), "The Help" (2011), and "Much Ado About Nothing" (2012).

In the realm of voice acting, Johnson has lent her talents to a variety of animated television characters, including Gretchen Grundler on "Recess" (1997–2001), Terra on "Teen Titans" (2004–2006) and its spin-off "Teen Titans Go!" (2013–present), Jinmay on "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!" (2004–2006), Gwen Tennyson in the "Ben 10" franchise (2008–2014), Renet Tilley on "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (2012), Shiseru on "Naruto: Shippuden" (2015), and Tulip Olsen and Lake on "Infinity Train" (2019–2020).

Notably, Johnson is recognized for her portrayal of Ellie in the acclaimed video game series "The Last of Us" (2013), "The Last of Us: Left Behind" (2014), and "The Last of Us Part II" (2020). She has won two BAFTA Games Awards for Performer, earning recognition for her performances in "The Last of Us" and "The Last of Us: Left Behind," making her the only person to have won the award more than once. Additionally, she received multiple nominations for her performance in "The Last of Us Part II."
Outside of her acting career, Johnson is also a prominent member of the Dungeons & Dragons web series "Critical Role" (2015–present), where she serves as a cast member. Furthermore, she became the president of the show's charity branch, the Critical Role Foundation, upon its launch in 2020.

Ashley Suzanne Johnson was born in Camarillo, California, on August 9, 1983, to Nancy and Cliff Johnson. Her mother, Nancy, was a former test pilot, and her father, Cliff, was an exploration ship captain. Ashley has Norwegian ancestry. She grew up with an older brother named Chris and an older sister named Haylie, both of whom pursued careers in acting. Haylie later married singer and musician Jonny Lang.

During Ashley's childhood, her father's job often took him away for extended periods, during which he would bring back souvenirs from his travels, particularly from countries like Japan. The family relocated to Franklin, Michigan, shortly after Ashley's birth, but later returned to California and settled in Los Angeles. Ashley attended school in nearby Burbank and received musical training in violin and piano at the International School of Music in Glendale.
Tragically, when Ashley was 16 years old, her father passed away from complications related to hepatitis C and cancer of the liver and lungs. This loss had a significant impact on Ashley and her family.

Ashley Johnson's career began at a young age, with her breakout role as Chrissy Seaver on the sitcom Growing Pains from 1990 to 1992. She continued to appear in various television series throughout her childhood and teenage years, including the one-season series Phenom (1993–94) and All-American Girl (1994), where she played the mischievous younger sister of a rising teenage tennis star and appeared as DJ's girlfriend Lisa in an episode of Roseanne titled "The Blaming of the Shrew."

Johnson's television credits also include Maybe This Time (1995–96), in which she played Gracie Wallace, and Dirt (2008), where she portrayed Sharlee Cates as a regular. She made a memorable appearance in the first-season finale of Dollhouse, titled "Omega," in 2009.
In addition to her live-action roles, Johnson has an extensive career as a voice actress. She has voiced characters in various animated series, including Gretchen Grundler in Disney's Recess, Terra in Teen Titans, Jinmay in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, and Gwen Tennyson in the Ben 10 franchise.

One of Johnson's most notable voice acting roles came in the PlayStation game The Last of Us (2013), where she provided the voice and motion capture for Ellie, earning critical acclaim and several awards for her performance. She also voiced Petra in Minecraft: Story Mode (2015) and Tulip Olsen in the pilot and series of Infinity Train (2019), among other roles.
Outside of television and video games, Johnson has appeared in films such as The Avengers (2012), directed by Joss Whedon, where she played the waitress Beth. She later played FBI forensic specialist Patterson in the NBC drama series Blindspot from 2015 to 2020.

Ashley Johnson's career has extended into various realms, including her reprisal of the role of Ellie in The Last of Us Part II in 2020. For her performance, she received nominations for Best Performance at The Game Awards 2020, Outstanding Achievement in Character at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and Best Performer in a Leading Role at the 17th British Academy Games Awards. Additionally, Johnson portrayed Ellie's mother, Anna, in the live-action adaptation of The Last of Us, earning praise for her performance despite having less than 10 minutes of screen time.

Johnson's involvement with Geek & Sundry shows includes playing occult specialist Morgan on the web series Spooked and appearing in episodes of TableTop. She joined the Dungeons & Dragons actual play show Critical Role in 2015, playing the character Pike Trickfoot, and later took on the role of Yasha Nydoorin in the show's second campaign. Critical Role has garnered significant recognition, winning awards at the Webby Awards and Shorty Awards, and raising over $11 million on Kickstarter for an animated series adaptation. Johnson reprised her role as Pike Trickfoot in The Legend of Vox Machina, which was acquired by Amazon Prime Video.

In addition to her acting and voice work, Johnson co-founded the photography company Infinity Pictures and co-hosted the podcast Wildly Hot & Bothered with her childhood best friend Mila Shah. They also created and starred in the web miniseries Little Things, which debuted on YouTube in 2018.
Johnson's diverse talents and contributions have made her a prominent figure in the entertainment industry, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.