Ashley Rickards
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Ashley Nicole Rickards is an American actress, known for her role as
Jenna Hamilton Jenna Hamilton is a fictional character from the teen comedy-drama television series '' Awkward.'', which aired on MTV in the United States. The character was created by series' producer Lauren Iungerich, and is portrayed by Ashley Rickards. She ...
in the
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
comedy-drama series ''
Awkward Awkward may refer to: * Awkwardness or embarrassment, an emotional state of intense discomfort with people * ''Awkward'' (TV series), an American teen comedy series * ''Awkward'' (album), a 2001 album by Ty * ''Awkward'', a 1999 graphic novel by ...
'', and as Samantha "Sam" Walker, a troubled young girl in
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
's teen drama series '' One Tree Hill''. She also starred in the 2011 independent drama film '' Fly Away'' as Mandy, an
autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...
girl.


Early life and acting career

Rickards was born in
Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...
. She grew up on a horse farm that catered to children with special needs. She attended a local
Montessori The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...
school where, at age 13, she had her first experience of acting in an opera production. Rickards graduated from high school at age fifteen and is a member of Mensa. After attending a local talent showcase, organized by
Lou Pearlman Louis Jay Pearlman (June 19, 1954 – August 19, 2016) was an American music manager and scam artist. He was the person behind many successful 1990s boy bands, having formed and funded the Backstreet Boys. After their massive success, he then dev ...
, Rickards traveled to Los Angeles where she eventually gathered a team of representatives. Upon graduating, Rickards began to appear in a number of minor roles, while
child labor laws A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...
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 The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
's '' One Tree Hill''. Although not aware of the show before auditioning, Rickards found that she "learned so much from acting techniques to different ways of shooting things". Her character did not return the following season, while in the same year she had a
bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisio ...
in her first feature film, ''
Gamer A gamer is someone who plays interactive games, either video games, tabletop role-playing games, skill-based card games, or any combination thereof, and who often plays for extended periods of time. Originally a hobby, gaming has evolved in ...
''. Rickards spent much of 2009 attending auditions while a proposed lead role in the film '' Dirty Girl'' fell through. In 2010, she appeared opposite
Jimmy Smits Jimmy L. Smits (born July 9, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the legal drama ''L.A. Law'', NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the police drama ''NYPD Blue'', and Matt Santos on the political dr ...
in an episode of the legal drama ''
Outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...
'' while she also auditioned for the lead role in the
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
series ''
Awkward Awkward may refer to: * Awkwardness or embarrassment, an emotional state of intense discomfort with people * ''Awkward'' (TV series), an American teen comedy series * ''Awkward'' (album), a 2001 album by Ty * ''Awkward'', a 1999 graphic novel by ...
''. Initially rejected, her manager Adam Griffin sent the producers a tape Rickards had made for '' Fly Away'' "to show how she can do anything". The actress landed both roles and filmed the pilot for the
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
series prior to ''Fly Away'', a feature where she played a girl with severe autism. As the lead in ''Awkward'', Rickards' profile began to rise and she was also given the opportunity to direct an episode. In 2012, she had a minor role in the moderately successful comedy ''Struck by Lightning'' and another coming-of-age film ''Sassy Pants.'' 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''. In 2015, she filmed the fifth and final season of ''Awkward''. In August 2016 it was announced that Rickards would play Rosalind "Rosa" Dillon/The Top in the CW series ''
The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
''. She also featured in the first season of comedy series ''Ctrl Alt Delete'' that aired in 2019.


Other activities

In 2011, Rickards helped to launch the Project Futures Somaly Mam Foundation, which works to prevent and end
human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...
and
sexual slavery Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership rights, right over one or more people with the intent of Coercion, coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activities. This includ ...
in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
. In March 2015, she published a book ''A Real Guide to Getting It Together Once and For All''. Over the course of her career, she has also appeared in various
music videos A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
such as
The Fray The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King. Their debut studio album, '' How to Save a Life'' (2005) was released by Epic Records and received quadruple platinum certific ...
's "
How to Save a Life "How to Save a Life" is a song by American alternative rock band the Fray, released in March 26, 2006 as the second single from their debut studio album of the same name. The song is one of the band's most popular airplay songs and peaked at n ...
",
The Format The Format was an American indie rock band, formed by vocalist Nate Ruess and multi-instrumentalist Sam Means (musician), Sam Means. Their style can be considered a mixture of indie, alternative, punk and folk music, with elements of 1960s and 1 ...
'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).


Filmography


Film


Television


Music videos


Awards and nominations


References


External links

*
Ashley Rickards
at the
Music Television Music television is a type of television programming which focuses predominantly on playing music videos from recording artists, usually on dedicated television channels' broadcasting on satellite, cable, or streaming platforms. Music televis ...

Ashley Rickards Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rickards, Ashley 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Sarasota, Florida American child actresses American female equestrians American film actresses American television actresses Living people Mensans Year of birth missing (living people)