Ashley Nicole Rickards is an American actress, known for her role as Jenna Hamilton in the MTV comedy-drama series Awkward,[1] and as Samantha "Sam" Walker, a troubled young girl in The CW's teen drama series One Tree Hill. She also starred in the 2011 independent drama film Fly Away as Mandy, an autistic girl.
Ashley Rickards | |
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.jpg) Rickards at the Media Access Awards on October 16, 2014 | |
| Born | Ashley Nicole Rickards Sarasota, Florida, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2005–present |
Early life and acting career
editRickards was born in Sarasota, Florida. She grew up on a horse farm that catered to 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, while 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 the sixth season of The CW's One Tree Hill.[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 the MTV series 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 girl with severe autism.[11]
As the lead in Awkward, Rickards' profile began to rise and she was also given the opportunity to direct an episode.[12] In 2012, she had a minor role in the moderately successful comedy Struck by Lightning and another coming-of-age film Sassy Pants.[11] In 2014 Rickards moved into the horror genre with a lead role in At the Devil's Door and as a teenage daughter in A Haunted House 2.[13][14] In 2015, she filmed the fifth and final season of Awkward.[15] In August 2016 it was announced that Rickards would play Rosalind "Rosa" Dillon/The Top in the CW series The Flash.[16][17]
Other activities
editIn 2011, Rickards helped to launch the Project Futures Somaly Mam Foundation, which works to prevent and end human trafficking and sexual slavery in Southeast Asia.[18] In March 2015, she published a book A Real Guide to Getting It Together Once and For All.[19]
Over the course of her career, she has also appeared in various music videos such as The Fray's "How to Save a Life", The Format's "She Doesn't Get It" and M83's "Claudia Lewis".
Filmography
editFilm
edit| 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 | At the Devil's Door | Hannah | |
| 2014 | A Haunted House 2 | Becky | |
| 2014 | Behaving Badly | Kristen Stevens | |
| 2017 | The Outcasts | Virginia Van Der Camp | |
| 2017 | Antisocial.app | Jessie | |
| 2018 | Pretty Little Stalker | Mallory | |
| 2020 | Smiley Face Killers | Alana |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Everybody Hates Chris | Girl | Episode: "Everybody Hates Superstition" |
| 2007 | CSI: NY | Young Lindsay Monroe | Episode: "Sleight Out of Hand" |
| 2007 | Zoey 101 | Molly Talbertsen | Episode: "Dance Contest" |
| 2007 | Ugly Betty | Sharra | Episodes: "Grin and Bear It" and "A League of Their Own" |
| 2008–2009 | One Tree Hill | Samantha "Sam" Walker | Recurring role |
| 2008 | Entourage | Candice | Episode: "The All Out Fall Out" |
| 2010 | Outlaw | Tracy Vidalin | Episode: "In Re: Tracy Vidalin" |
| 2011–2016 | Awkward | Jenna Hamilton | Main role; also directed episode: "Listen to This" |
| 2011 | American Horror Story: Murder House | Chloe Stapleton | Episodes: "Halloween (Part 2)" and "Piggy Piggy" |
| 2015 | Robot Chicken | Jenna Hamilton / Veruca Salt / Betty Cooper / Ashley | Episode: "Cake Pillow" (voices) |
| 2015 | Scream | Jenna Hamilton | Promotional campaigns for season 1 |
| 2016–2017, 2021–2022 |
The Flash | Rosalind "Rosa" Dillon / The Top | Recurring role |
| 2017 | Dimension 404 | Susan Hirsch | Episode: "Chronos" |
| 2019 | Ctrl Alt Delete | A'sha | 6 episodes |
Music videos
edit| Year | Title | Role | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "How to Save a Life" | Girl | The Fray |
| 2007 | "She Doesn't Get It" | Love interest | The Format |
| 2013 | "Claudia Lewis" | Girl | M83 |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Arizona International Film Festival | Best Performance | Fly Away | Won[20] |
| 2012 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Actress in a Comedy Series | Awkward | Nominated |
| 2012 | Teen Choice Award | Summer TV Star: Female | Awkward | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ 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!.
- ^ Gach, PJ. "The Best, Worst and the WTF of the MTV EMAs 2011 Red Carpet Style". Betty Confidential. Desha Productions, Inc. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. 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" Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Warner Loughlin Studio news item
- ^ "Griffin interview" Tara McNamara, 'Adam Griffin, Manager learned from his young charge', Variety, September 13, 2012
- ^ a b "Collider 2011 interview" Christina Radish, Ashley Rickards Exclusive Interview Awkward', Collider, July 20, 2011
- ^ "Awkward's Ashley Rickards Says Making Out on Set Is Not Sexy". ELLE. October 22, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- ^ "Ashley Rickards Tells Us How She Played Possessed In 'At The Devil's Door'". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 14, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- ^ "A Haunted House 2 Interviews with Marlon Wayans, Jaime Pressly, Ashley Rickards". Washington Examiner. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- ^ "MTV's Awkward to End After Season 5". TVLine. October 8, 2014. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- ^ "Ashley Rickards Will Take a Villainous Turn on The Flash". ComingSoon.net. August 18, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- ^ "The Flash's Newest Villain, The Top, Will Make Your Head Spin". E! News. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- ^ "Somaly.org press release Archived December 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine List Rickards as one of the participants at the LA launch, no other mention of her involvement after that.
- ^ Olya, Gabrielle (March 21, 2015). "Ashley Rickards Reveals Her Long Struggle with 'Dark, Secretive World' of Eating Disorders". people.com.
- ^ "2011 Arizona International Film Festival". Film Festival Arizona. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2011.