Ashley Rickards | |
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![]() Rickards at the Media Access Awards on October 16, 2014 | |
Born | Ashley Nicole Rickards May 4, 1992 Sarasota, Florida, U.S. |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2005–present |
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.
Rickards 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 experience of acting in an opera production. [3] Rickards graduated from high school at age fifteen [4] [5] and is a member of Mensa. [6] After attending a local talent showcase, organized by Lou Pearlman, Rickards traveled to Los Angeles where she eventually gathered a team of representatives. [3] [7] 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. [5] 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 . [5] 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] She also featured in the first season of comedy series Ctrl Alt Delete that aired in 2019. [18]
In 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. [19] In March 2015, she published a book A Real Guide to Getting It Together Once and For All. [20]
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".
In 2015 she published the book A Real Guide to Really Getting It Together Once and for All (Harlequin). [21] [22]
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 |
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 / 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 |
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 |
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Arizona International Film Festival | Best Performance | Fly Away | Won [23] |
2012 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Actress in a Comedy Series | Awkward | Nominated |
2012 | Teen Choice Award | Summer TV Star: Female | Awkward | Nominated |