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Ashley Rickards
Ashley Rickards Oct 2014 (cropped).jpg
Ashley Rickards in 2014
Born
Ashley Nicole Rickards

Occupation
  • Actress
  • director
Years active 2005–present

Ashley Nicole Rickards is an American actress. She is well-known for playing Jenna Hamilton in the MTV comedy-drama series Awkward. She also played Samantha "Sam" Walker, a troubled young girl, in The CW's teen drama series One Tree Hill. In 2011, she starred as Mandy, an autistic girl, in the independent film Fly Away.

Early Life and Acting Career

Ashley Rickards was born in Sarasota, Florida. She grew up on a horse farm that helped children with special needs. At age 13, she first tried acting in an opera at her local Montessori school. Rickards finished high school at age fifteen. She is also a member of Mensa, a group for people with high IQs.

After a talent show, Rickards went to Los Angeles. There, she found people to help her start her acting career. When she first started, she could only work a limited number of hours because she was young. She appeared in many small roles. Later, she got the part of Samantha Walker in One Tree Hill. Samantha was a runaway foster child. Rickards learned a lot from this show. In the same year, she had a small part in the movie Gamer.

In 2010, Ashley Rickards appeared with Jimmy Smits in the TV show Outlaw. She also tried out for the main role in the MTV series Awkward. At first, she was not chosen. But her manager sent the producers a tape of her acting for the movie Fly Away. This tape showed how well she could act. Rickards then got both roles. She filmed the pilot for Awkward before Fly Away. In Fly Away, she played a girl with severe autism.

As the main actress in Awkward, Rickards became more famous. She even got to direct an episode of the show. In 2012, she had a small role in the comedy Struck by Lightning. She also appeared in another coming-of-age film called Sassy Pants. In 2014, Rickards acted in horror films. She had a main role in At the Devil's Door and played a teenage daughter in A Haunted House 2. In 2015, she filmed the fifth and final season of Awkward. In 2016, it was announced that Rickards would play Rosalind "Rosa" Dillon/The Top in The CW series The Flash.

Other Activities

In March 2015, Ashley Rickards published a book. It was called A Real Guide to Getting It Together Once and For All.

She has also been in several music videos. These include The Fray's "How to Save a Life". She was also in The Format's "She Doesn't Get It" and M83's "Claudia Lewis".

Filmography

Film

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 Haunted House 2, AA Haunted House 2 Becky
2014 Behaving Badly Kristen Stevens
2017 Outcasts, TheThe Outcasts Virginia Van Der Camp
2017 Antisocial.app Jessie
2018 Pretty Little Stalker Mallory
2020 Smiley Face Killers Alana

Television

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

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

Year Award Category Work Result
2011 Arizona International Film Festival Best Performance Fly Away Won
2012 Critics' Choice Television Award Best Actress in a Comedy Series Awkward Nominated
2012 Teen Choice Award Summer TV Star: Female Awkward Nominated

See Also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Ashley Rickards para niños

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