Ashley Rickards
Ashley Nicole Rickards (born May 4, 1992, height 5' 3¾" (1,62 m)) is an American actress, known for her role in MTV's Awkward as Jenna Hamilton, 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.
Rickards grew up on a horse farm that catered for children with special needs. She attended a local Montessori school where, at age 13, she had her first taste 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 Perlman, 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, 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. 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 her first feature film, Gamer.
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 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". 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.
A former competitive equestrian, 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. Rickards writes poetry, scripts, and enjoys painting in her spare time. 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".
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 5.537 |
Birthday | 1992-05-04 |
Place of Birth | Sarasota, Florida, USA |
Also Known As |
2009
Gamer
5.7/2352
Mind-control technology has taken society by a storm, a multiplayer on-line game called "Slayers" allows players to control human prisoners in mass-sc...
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Gamer
2011
Fly Away
5.4/8
The poignant yet humor filled story about a single mother of a teenager severely impacted by autism, forced to reckon with her daughter's future. As h...
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Fly Away
2013
Struck by Lightning
6.2/207
After being struck and killed by lightning, a young man recounts the way he blackmailed his fellow classmates into contributing to his literary magazi...
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Struck by Lightning
2012
Sassy Pants
5.8/42
Desperate to get out from under her overprotective mother, a home-schooled teen runs off to live with her dad, and forms a bond with his much-younger...
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Sassy Pants
2014
A Haunted House 2
6.149/1426
After exorcising the demons of his ex-, Malcolm starts afresh with his new girlfriend and her two children. After moving into their dream home, Malcol...
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A Haunted House 2
2014
Behaving Badly
5.3/571
Teenager Rick Stevens is willing to do whatever it takes to win the heart of Nina Pennington. He'll have to deal with his best friend's horny mom, a d...
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Behaving Badly
2017
The Outcasts
6.2/488
After falling victim to a humiliating prank by the high school Queen Bee, best friends and world-class geeks, Mindy and Jodi, decide to get their reve...
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The Outcasts
2017
Killer App
3.8/47
A young hacker creates an "antisocial" networking app that matches enemies instead of friends. When her enemies start turning up dead, she must uncove...
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Killer App
2014
At the Devil's Door
4.8/238
When ambitious young real estate agent Leigh is asked to sell a house with a checkered past, she crosses paths with a disturbed girl whom she learns i...
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At the Devil's Door
2018
Pretty Little Stalker
4.2/18
A self help writer and her family become the target of a troubled girl.
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Pretty Little Stalker
2020
Smiley Face Killers
3.1/27
Handsome young soccer player Jake Graham believes he is going insane, unable to shake the feeling of being stalked by something, by someone.
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