Ashley Johnson

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Ashley Suzanne Johnson (born August 9, 1983) is an American actress. She became known as a child actor for her role as Chrissy Seaver on the sitcom Growing Pains (1990–1992). As an adult, her television roles include Amber Ahmed on The Killing (2011–2012) and Patterson on Blindspot (2015–2020). She has appeared in films such as What Women Want (2000), Fast Food Nation (2006), The Help (2011), and Much Ado About Nothing (2012), and is a cast member on the Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role (2015–present). She became the president of the show's charity branch, the Critical Role Foundation, upon its launch in 2020.

Johnson has provided the voice and motion capture of Ellie in The Last of Us (2013), The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014), and The Last of Us Part II (2020). She also voiced animated television characters Gretchen Grundler on Recess (1997–2001), Terra on Teen Titans (2004–2006) and Teen Titans Go! (2013–present), Jinmay on Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! (2004–2006), Gwen Tennyson in the Ben 10 franchise (2008–2014), Renet Tilley on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), Shiseru on Naruto: Shippuden (2015), Tulip Olsen and Lake on Infinity Train (2019–2020), and Pike in The Legend of Vox Machina (2022–present), as well as the video game characters Gortys in Tales from the Borderlands (2014) and Petra in Minecraft: Story Mode (2015–2016) and its sequel (2017).

Johnson has won two BAFTA Games Awards for Performer, winning once each for her performances in The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Left Behind and is the only person to have won the award more than once. She also received multiple nominations for her performance in The Last of Us Part II.

Early life

Ashley Johnson was born on August 9, 1983,<ref name="behindthevoice">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Yahoo" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in Camarillo, California,<ref name="Yahoo"/> the daughter of former test pilot Nancy (née Spruiell)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and exploration ship captain Cliff Johnson.<ref name="BTSheets">Template:Cite episode</ref> She has an older brother named Chris and an older sister named Haylie, both of whom have also worked as actors. Her sister later married singer and musician Jonny Lang.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her father was often away for months at a time and would bring back souvenirs from countries such as Japan.<ref name="BTSheets" /> He started a new job nine days after Johnson was born and subsequently moved the family to Franklin, Michigan, where they lived for a few years before returning to California and settling in Los Angeles.<ref name="BTSheets" /> Johnson attended school in nearby Burbank when her acting career allowed but otherwise had an on-set teacher.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite book</ref> She later studied violin and piano at the International School of Music in Glendale.<ref name="BTSheets" /> When she was 16, her father died of complications from hepatitis C and cancer of the liver and lungs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Johnson needed a back brace for three years due to scoliosis and kyphosis, which affected her during her high school years.<ref name="auto"/>

Career

Johnson's career began at age six, when she played the role of Chrissy Seaver on the sitcom Growing Pains from 1990 to 1992. The character's age was accelerated from a toddler between seasons for plotting purposes. By the time she was 12, Johnson had been in the casts of eight television series. She later reprised her role as Chrissy in The Growing Pains Movie and Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers. In the one season series Phenom (1993–94), she played the mischievous younger sister of a rising teenage tennis star. She appeared in the 1994 sitcom All-American Girl, which also lasted for only one season. She played DJ's overbearing girlfriend Lisa in the Roseanne episode "The Blaming of the Shrew". During the 1995–96 ABC lineup, she played Gracie Wallace in the sitcom Maybe This Time. She played Alex Marshall in the 2000 comedy What Women Want. In 2008, she became a regular on the drama Dirt as Sharlee Cates. In 2009, Johnson appeared in "Omega", the first-season finale of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.

Johnson in 2014

In 2012, she appeared in The Avengers (also directed by Whedon) as Beth, the waitress who is saved by Captain America. She was intended to appear in future films as his newest love interest (as implied in a brief scene in the film), but that plan was shelved and instead actress Emily VanCamp's Sharon Carter character became involved with Rogers.Template:Citation needed Although her role was minor, the Blu-ray edition of The Avengers contains some deleted scenes that expand her role in the film and further her interactions with Rogers.<ref name="Yahoo">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From 2015 to 2020, Johnson played FBI forensic specialist Patterson in the NBC drama series Blindspot.<ref name="Blindspot">Template:Cite news</ref>

As a voice actress, Johnson's earlier roles included Sean in the English dub of The First Snow of Winter, Gretchen Grundler on Disney's Recess, Terra in the second and fifth seasons of Teen Titans, Jinmay on Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! and Gwen Tennyson in the Ben 10 franchise. A major voice role came when she provided the voice and motion capture for Ellie in the PlayStation action-adventure game The Last of Us, which was released to critical acclaim and commercial success.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She won a video game BAFTA for Best Performer, a VGX Award for Best Voice Actress, and a D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Character Performance<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> for her role in the game. On March 12, 2015, she won another BAFTA for Best Performer for the same role in the game's downloadable content, The Last of Us: Left Behind.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2015, she voiced Petra the Warrior in Minecraft: Story Mode by Telltale Games and Mojang. In 2016, she voiced Tulip Olsen in the pilot for Infinity Train and reprised the role for the series in 2019, additionally voicing Lake and the Steward.

Johnson (right) on the final day of motion capture production of The Last of Us Part II with Neil Druckmann (center) and Troy Baker (left)

In 2020, Johnson reprised the role of Ellie in The Last of Us Part II. For her performance, she was nominated for Best Performance at The Game Awards 2020,<ref name="Game Awards 2020">Template:Cite web</ref> for Outstanding Achievement in Character at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards,<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite web</ref> and for Best Performer in a Leading Role at the 17th British Academy Games Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She portrayed Ellie's mother, Anna, in the live-action adaptation of The Last of Us.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On her performance in the adaptation, The Daily Beast commented that "with less than 10 minutes of screen time, Johnson gives us one of the best scenes of The Last of Us".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Johnson appeared in several Geek & Sundry shows, including playing occult specialist Morgan on the web series Spooked, as well as the Alhambra and Dead of Winter episodes on the board gaming web series TableTop.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2015, she began playing Pike Trickfoot on the Dungeons & Dragons actual play show Critical Role; in 2018, she began playing Yasha Nydoorin in the show's second campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Critical Role was both the Webby Winner and the People's Voice Winner in the "Games (Video Series & Channels)" category at the 2019 Webby Awards;<ref name="Webby192">Template:Cite web</ref> the show was also both a finalist and the Audience Honor Winner at the 2019 Shorty Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After becoming hugely successful, the Critical Role cast left the Geek & Sundry network in early 2019 and set up their own production company, Critical Role Productions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="GnSsplit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":12">Template:Cite web</ref> Soon after, they aimed to raise $750,000 on Kickstarter to create an animated series of their first campaign, but ended up raising over $11 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2019, Amazon Prime Video announced that they had acquired the streaming rights to this animated series, now titled The Legend of Vox Machina;<ref name=":14">Template:Cite web</ref> Johnson reprised her role as Pike Trickfoot.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In late 2020, she was made president of the Critical Role Foundation, the studio's charity branch.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":10">Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2021, she was added to the cast of Exandria Unlimited, an anthology spinoff of Critical Role.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":02" /><ref name=":1" /> Three months later, she served as gamemaster for The Nautilus Ark, her own one-shot episode on the Critical Role channel.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> In October 2021, Johnson's Exandria Unlimited character Fearne Calloway returned in Critical RoleTemplate:'s third campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Johnson set up a photography company called Infinity Pictures with Mila Shah, her childhood best friend who works as a production assistant and occasional actress; there have been no updates on the company for many years, though it is still registered as active as of 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Johnson and Shah also co-hosted a podcast called Wildly Hot & Bothered, which ran for 13 episodes from 2012 to 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2015, they created and starred in Little Things, a web miniseries on YouTube about two friends living in Los Angeles and their habit of making awkward everyday situations even worse. The series was not released on YouTube until 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

The first campaign of Critical Role began two years prior to the start of the series as a one-off, simplified Dungeons & Dragons game for Liam O'Brien's birthday.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref name="dest">Template:Cite news</ref> The players enjoyed the game so much that they continued to play it and brought in additional friends, including Johnson, who joined in the second game.<ref name="dest" /><ref name="TVWeb">Template:Cite news</ref> After Felicia Day heard about the private home game from Johnson, she approached the group about playing it in a live-streamed format for Geek & Sundry.<ref name="comicbook">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="GameInformer">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Johnson enjoys singing and can play the guitar, piano, violin, and cello; she occasionally posted covers of songs on her SoundCloud page until late 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her performance as Ellie in The Last of Us Part II included acoustic guitar covers of "Future Days" by Pearl Jam, "Take On Me" by A-ha, "True Faith" by New Order, and "Through the Valley" by Shawn James.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also joined co-star Troy Baker (in character as Ellie and Joel) to perform a cover of Johnny Cash's rendition of "Wayfaring Stranger", which plays over the end credits of the game.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> She later provided vocals for the Critical Role theme songs "Your Turn to Roll"<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> and "It's Thursday Night".<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

In 2012, Johnson began dating writer and musician Brian W. Foster, who also went on to host the Critical Role after-show Talks Machina.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref name="Talks cancelled">Template:Cite tweet</ref> Johnson was first introduced to Foster by Troy Baker when working on The Last of Us; Foster and Baker were then roommates.<ref name="auto"/> The couple announced their engagement in December 2018.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In May 2023, it was reported that Johnson had separated from Foster and filed a restraining order against him, citing abuse and threats.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> All videos and mentions of Foster were wiped from the online profiles of Critical Role.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In October 2023, Johnson and six other women (including her sister and two Critical Role employees) filed a lawsuit against Foster that alleged assault, domestic violence, gender violence, sexual battery, stalking, civil rights violations, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Lionheart	Nicole Gaultier
1995	Nine Months	Shannon Dwyer
1998	Dancer, Texas Pop. 81	Josie Hemphill
	The First Snow of Winter	Sean McDuck (voice)	English dub; short film
1999	Anywhere but Here	Sarah
2000	What Women Want	Alex Marshall
2001	Recess: School's Out	Gretchen Grundler (voice)	<ref name="btva2">Template:Cite web A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
	Recess Christmas	Gretchen Grundler (voice)	Direct-to-video
	Rustin	Lee Wolford	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2003	The Failures	Lilly Kyle
	Recess: All Growed Down	Gretchen Grundler (voice)	Direct-to-video<ref name="btva2" />
	Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade	Gretchen Grundler (voice)	Direct-to-video<ref name="btva2" />
2004	Killer Diller	Angie
	King of the Corner	Elena Spivak
2005	Nearing Grace	Merna Ash
2006	Fast Food Nation	Amber
	Grad Night	Student
2007	The Brothers Solomon	Patricia
2008	Columbus Day	Alana
	Otis	Riley Lawson
2009	Spread	Eva
2010	Christmas Cupid	Jenny
2011	The Help	Mary Beth Caldwell
2012	The Avengers	Beth
	Much Ado About Nothing	Margaret
2015	When Marnie Was There	Emily, Miyoko (voice)	English dub
2016	Punching Henry	Danielle
2018	All You Can Eat	LizaTemplate:Citation needed

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1990–1992	Growing Pains	Chrissy Seaver	Main role (seasons 6–7)
1992	Kids Incorporated	Girl in audience	Uncredited; episode: "The Boy of La Mancha"
1993	Men Don't Tell	Cindy	Television film
	The Town Santa Forgot	Granddaughter (voice)	Television special
	Timmy's Special Delivery: A Precious Moments Christmas	Holly, additional voices	Television specialTemplate:Citation needed
1993–1994	Phenom	Mary Margaret Doolan	Main role
1994	All-American Girl	Casey Emmerson	Main role
1995	Annie: A Royal Adventure!	Annie Warbucks	Television film
	Roseanne	Lisa	Episode: "The Blaming of the Shrew"
	What a Cartoon!	Mina (voice)	Episode: "Mina and the Count: Interlude with a Vampire"	<ref name="btva2" />
1995–1996	Maybe This Time	Gracie Wallace	Main role
1996–1999	Jumanji	Peter Shepherd (voice)	40 episodes
1997	Moloney	Kate Moloney	3 episodes
	Wings	Rebecca	Episode: "Ms. Write"
1997–2001	Recess	Gretchen Grundler (voice)	129 episodes
1998	ER	Dana Ellis	2 episodes
	Kelly Kelly	Maureen Kelly	Main role
2000	The Growing Pains Movie	Chrissy Seaver	Television film
2001	What About Joan?	Jody Bradford	Episode: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Joan"
2002	Ally McBeal	Serena Feldman	Episode: "Heart and Soul"
	The Guardian	Betsy Fortunato	Episode: "Sacrifice"
	Lloyd in Space	Violet (voice)	4 episodes
	Providence	Daphne Wallace	3 episodes
	Roswell	Eileen Burrows	2 episodes
	Touched by an Angel	Natalie Tate	Episode: "Bring On the Rain"
2003–2004	Married to the Kellys	Shari	2 episodes
2004	Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers	Chrissy Seaver	Television film
2004–2006	Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!	Jinmay (voice)	12 episodes	<ref name="btva2" />
	Teen Titans	Terra (voice)	7 episodes	<ref name="btva2" />
2004–2010	King of the Hill	Emily, Jamie (voice)	7 episodes
2005	The X's	Kimla (voice)
2006	Lilo & Stitch: The Series	Gretchen Grundler (voice)	Episode: "Lax"
2007	Heartland	Rebecca Colton	Episode: "Mother & Child Reunion"
	Monk	Susie the Maid	Episode: "Mr. Monk Is at Your Service"
2007, 2014	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Dreama Little, Brothel Girl	2 episodes
2008	Dirt	Sharlee Cates	Recurring role (season 2)
	The Mentalist	Clara Tennant	Episode: "Seeing Red"
	The Middleman	Eleanor Draper	Episode: "The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation"
	Raising the Bar	Elise Denton	Episode: "Hang Time"
2008–2010	Ben 10: Alien Force	Gwen Tennyson, additional voices	45 episodes	<ref name="btva2" />
2009	Cold Case	Graces Stearns (1966)	Episode: "The Crossing"
	Dollhouse	Wendy, Caroline, Hayden Leeds	2 episodes
2010	Funny or Die Presents	Girlfriend	1 episode
	Lie to Me	Valerie	Episode: "Beat the Devil"
2010–2018	Drunk History	Various	3 episodes
2010–2012	Ben 10: Ultimate Alien	Gwen Tennyson, additional voices	52 episodes	<ref name="btva2" />
2011	In Plain Sight	Sarah Collins, Sarah Peterschwim	Episode: "Something A-mish"
2011–2012	The Killing	Amber Ahmed	Recurring role (season 1); special guest (season 2)
2011–2013	Pound Puppies	Amelia, Toyo, Gina, Giblet, Kid #1 (voice)	6 episodes
2012	Drop Dead Diva	Veronica Kramer	Episode: "Road Trip"
	Private Practice	Kelly	Episode: "The Time Has Come"
2012–2014	Ben 10: Omniverse	Gwen Tennyson, additional voices	21 episodes	<ref name="btva2" />
2013	Masters of Sex	Flora Banks	Episode: "Fallout"
2013–2019	Teen Titans Go!	Terra (voice)	6 episodes	<ref name="btva2" />
2014	Garfunkel and Oates	Jane	Episode: "Speechless"
2015	Naruto: Shippuden	Shiseru (voice)	English dub; 6 episodes	<ref name="Naruto Shippuden Set 23 Review">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Stalker	Stephanie Beekman	Episode: "My Hero"
2015–2017	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Renet (voice)	6 episodes	<ref name="btva2" />
2015–2020	Blindspot	Patterson	Main role
2019–2020	Infinity Train	Tulip Olsen, Mirror Tulip / Lake, Steward (voice)	20 episodes	<ref name="btva2" />
2021	Close Enough	Kristen (voice)	Episode: "Where'd You Go, Bridgette?"
	Family Guy	Lisa (voice)	Episode: "Customer of the Week"
2022–present	The Legend of Vox Machina	Pike Trickfoot (voice)	Main role; also executive producer	<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":9">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="btva2" />
2023	The Last of Us	Anna	Episode: "Look for the Light"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2025	data-sort-value="Mighty Nein, The" Template:Pending series	Yasha Nydoorin (voice)	In production	<ref name="EW on upcoming VM & MN shows">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="IGN-2025">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:TableTBA	Template:Pending series	Purple (voice)		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Teen Titans	Terra	<ref name="btva2" />
2008	Ben 10: Alien Force	Gwen Tennyson	<ref name="btva2" />
2009	Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks	Gwen Tennyson	<ref name="btva2" />
2010	Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex	Gwen Tennyson
	Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction	Gwen Tennyson
2011	Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion	Gwen Tennyson
2013	Marvel Heroes	Spider-Woman / Gwen Stacy	Uncredited
	The Last of Us	Ellie	Voice and motion capture<ref name="btva2" /> VGX Award for Best Voice Actress BAFTA Games Award for Best Performer D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Character Performance
2014	The Last of Us: Left Behind	Ellie	Also motion capture 2014 BAFTA Games Award for Best Performer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Infamous First Light	Jenny	<ref name="btva2" />
	Tales from the Borderlands	Gortys, Hyperion System	"Hyperion System" is credited as "additional voices"
	Final Fantasy Explorers	Additional voices	English version
2015	Skylanders: SuperChargers	Gadfly Glades collector / additional voices
	Lego Dimensions	Terra	Uncredited
	Minecraft: Story Mode	Petra	<ref name="btva2" />
2016	The Witness	Additional voices
	Lego Marvel's Avengers	Beth the Waitress	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
2017	Minecraft: Story Mode – Season Two	Petra	<ref name="btva2" />
2018	Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire	Narrator, Pike Trickfoot, Ydwin	Critical Role DLC<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>
2020	The Last of Us Part II	Ellie	Voice and motion capture<ref name="btva2" /> Nominated for Best Performance at The Game Awards 2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nominated for Best Performer in a Leading Role at 2020 BAFTA Games Award<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Character at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards<ref name="auto1"/> 2021 NAVGTR Award for Outstanding Performance in a Drama, Lead<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2023	Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical	Calliope	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="btva2" />
2025	Date Everything!	Beau	<ref name="btva2" />
	Dispatch	Ashley Rhiness, Brainbook	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013–2015	Tabletop	Herself	2 episodes
2015–present	Critical Role	Pike Trickfoot (campaign 1)	Main cast; actual play ongoing series<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Variety 2025">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Instagram 2025 Character Art">Template:Cite Instagram</ref>
		Yasha Nydoorin (campaign 2)
		Fearne Calloway, Trist (campaign 3)
		Vaelus (campaign 4)
2020	Animal Talking with Gary Whitta	Herself (voice)	1 episode<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
2021	Exandria Unlimited	Fearne Calloway	8 episodes; actual play limited series<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":02">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>
2023	Candela Obscura	Auggie James	3 episodes; actual play limited series<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2025	Weird Kids	Herself	Podcast co-host<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Age of Umbra	Misty	Actual play limited series using the Daggerheart system<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Audio books

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2022	Critical Role: The Mighty Nein – The Nine Eyes of Lucien	Yasha Nydoorin	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2025	Critical Role: Vox Machina - Stories Untold	Narrator	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

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