Ashley Rickards
Ashley Rickards | |
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Born | Ashley Nicole Rickards May 4, 1992 Sarasota, Florida, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Actress, director |
Years active | 2005–present |
Ashley Nicole Rickards (born May 4, 1992) is an American actress, known for her role in MTV's Awkward as Jenna Hamilton,[1] and as Samantha "Sam" Walker, a troubled young girl taken in by Brooke Davis who becomes her foster-mother, in The CW teen drama series One Tree Hill. She also starred in the 2011 independent drama film Fly Away as Mandy, a severely autistic girl.
Life and career
Rickards was born in Sarasota, Florida. She grew up on a horse farm that catered for children with special needs.[2] She attended a local Montessori school where, at age 13, she had her first taste of acting in an opera production.[3] Rickards graduated from high school at age fifteen[4] and is a member of Mensa.[5] After attending a local talent showcase, organized by Lou Pearlman, Rickards traveled to Los Angeles where she eventually gathered a team of representatives.[3][6] Upon graduating, Rickards began to appear in a number of minor roles, as child labor laws restricted the number of hours she was able to work. After making a number of guest appearances and shorts, she landed the role of Samantha Walker, a runaway foster child, in One Tree Hill for the 2008-2009 season.[7] Although not aware of the show before auditioning, Rickards found that she "learned so much from acting techniques to different ways of shooting things".[8] Her character did not return the following season, while in the same year she had a bit part in her first feature film, Gamer.
Rickards spent much of 2009 attending auditions while a proposed lead-role in the film Dirty Girl fell through.[9] In 2010 she appeared opposite Jimmy Smits in an episode of the legal drama Outlaw while she also auditioned for the lead-role in Awkward. Initially rejected, her manager Adam Griffin sent the producers a tape Rickards had made for Fly Away "to show how she can do anything".[10] The actress landed both roles and filmed the pilot for the MTV series prior to Fly Away, a feature where she played a severely autistic girl.[11]
She helped to launch the Project Futures Somaly Mam Foundation (2011), which works to prevent and end human trafficking and sexual slavery in Southeast Asia.[12] She also appeared in The Fray's video for "How to Save a Life", and also in The Format's video for "She Doesn't Get It".
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Web Journal Now | Janet | Short film |
2007 | Spoonfed | Bridgette | Short film |
2009 | Gamer | 2Katchapredator | |
2011 | Fly Away | Mandy | |
2012 | Struck by Lightning | Vicki Jordan | |
2012 | Sassy Pants | Bethany Pruitt | |
2014 | Behaving Badly | Kristen Stevens | |
2014 | At the Devil's Door | Girl | |
2014 | A Haunted House 2 | Becky | |
2015 | The Outskirts | Filming |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Everybody Hates Chris | Girl | Episode: "Everybody Hates Superstition" |
2007 | American Family | Julia Bogner | Unsold ABC pilot |
2007 | CSI: NY | Young Lindsay Monroe | Episode: "Sleight Out of Hand" |
2007 | Zoey 101 | Molly Talbertsen | Episode: "Dance Contest" |
2007 | Ugly Betty | Sharra | 2 episodes |
2008–2009 | One Tree Hill | Samantha "Sam" Walker | 19 episodes |
2008 | Entourage | Candice | Episode: "The All Out Fall Out" |
2010 | Outlaw | Tracy Vidalin | Episode: "In Re: Tracy Vidalin" |
2011–present | Awkward | Jenna Hamilton | Main cast Director: Season 4, Episode 2 |
2011 | When I Was 17 | Herself | Episode: "Heidi Klum, Ashley Rickards, Wyclef Jean" |
2011 | American Horror Story: Murder House | Chloe Stapleton | 2 episodes |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Arizona International Film Festival | Best Performance | Fly Away | Won[13] |
2012 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Actress in a Comedy Series | Awkward | Nominated |
2012 | Teen Choice Award | Summer TV Star: Female | Awkward | Nominated |
References
- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (November 14, 2011). "MTV Sets Premiere Date for 'I Just Want My Pants Back' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
- ^ Plank, Alex (August 16, 2011). "Autism Talk TV 15 – Fly Away – Interview with Janet Grillo and Ashley Rickards". Autismspeaks.org.
- ^ a b Riley, Jenelle (July 21, 2011). "Ashley Rickards of MTV's 'Awkward' Shows Her Acting Range". Backstage.
- ^ Chelsea Lately. Season 5. Episode 129. August 31, 2011. E!.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Gach, PJ. "The Best, Worst and the WTF of the MTV EMAs 2011 Red Carpet Style". Betty Confidential. Desha Productions, Inc. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
- ^ She is represented by KLWGN (management), United Talent Agency (agent) and Hansen Jacobson (legal) "Rickards listing 2013"
- ^ Martin, Denise (July 19, 2012). "'Awkwards Ashley Rickards on Latin Boys, Reverse Method Acting, and Idolizing Chris Colfer". Vulture.
- ^ "Seventeen interview 2009" Staff writer, 'Ashley Rickards from One Tree Hill talks on-set style!', Seventeen Magazine, August 10, 2009
- ^ "April 2008 news item" Warner Loughlin Studio news item
- ^ "Griffin interview" Tara McNamara, 'Adam Griffin, Manager learned from his young charge', Variety, September 13, 2012
- ^ "Collider 2011 interview" Christina Radish, Ashley Rickards Exclusive Interview Awkward', Collider, July 20, 2011
- ^ "Somaly.org press release List Rickards as one of the participants at the LA launch, no other mention of her involvement after that.
- ^ "2011 Arizona International Film Festival". Film Festival Arizona. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
External links
- Ashley Rickards at IMDb
- Ashley Rickards on X
- Ashley Rickards at the Music Television