Ashley Johnson

Biography:

Ashley Johnson was born on August 9, 1983, in Camarillo, California, to Nancy (née Spruiell), a former test pilot, and Cliff Johnson, an exploration ship captain. She has two older siblings, Chris and Haylie, who have also worked as actors, with Haylie marrying musician Jonny Lang. Her father’s work often took him abroad, bringing back souvenirs from places like Japan. Nine days after Ashley was born, her father began a new job, moving the family to Franklin, Michigan, before eventually returning to California and settling in Los Angeles. Johnson attended school in Burbank when her acting schedule allowed and otherwise studied with an on-set teacher. She also trained in violin and piano at the International School of Music in Glendale. Her father passed away when she was 16 due to hepatitis C and liver and lung cancer, and she spent three years wearing a back brace for scoliosis and kyphosis during her high school years.

Johnson began acting at six, portraying Chrissy Seaver on Growing Pains from 1990 to 1992. By age 12, she had appeared in eight television series. She later returned as Chrissy in The Growing Pains Movie and Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers. She played roles in Phenom (1993–94), All-American Girl (1994), Roseanne, Maybe This Time (1995–96), and the film What Women Want (2000). Johnson became a regular on Dirt (2008) and appeared in the first-season finale of Dollhouse (2009).

In 2012, she appeared in The Avengers as Beth, a waitress saved by Captain America, although the character’s potential as a love interest was later dropped. From 2015 to 2020, she played FBI forensic specialist Patterson on NBC’s Blindspot.

As a voice actress, Johnson’s work includes Sean in The First Snow of Winter, Gretchen Grundler in Recess, Terra in Teen Titans, Jinmay in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, and Gwen Tennyson in Ben 10. Her most prominent role came as Ellie in the video game The Last of Us, earning her a BAFTA, VGX, and D.I.C.E. Award for her performance, and another BAFTA for the game’s downloadable content, Left Behind. She later voiced Petra in Minecraft: Story Mode, and Tulip Olsen, Lake, and the Steward in Infinity Train. Johnson reprised Ellie in The Last of Us Part II (2020), receiving multiple award nominations, and portrayed Ellie’s mother Anna in the series adaptation.

Johnson has appeared in several Geek & Sundry projects, including Spooked and TableTop, and is a key cast member of Critical Role, playing Pike Trickfoot and Yasha Nydoorin. The show won multiple awards, and in 2019, the cast founded Critical Role Productions. Their animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina, was funded via Kickstarter and acquired by Amazon Prime Video, with Johnson reprising her role as Pike. She later became president of the Critical Role Foundation, and participated in spinoffs like Exandria Unlimited.

Outside acting, Johnson co-founded Infinity Pictures with childhood friend Mila Shah and co-hosted the podcast Wildly Hot & Bothered (2012–2014). They also created the web miniseries Little Things.

Johnson is a musician, playing guitar, piano, violin, and cello, and performed covers in The Last of Us Part II. She contributed vocals to Critical Role theme songs and performed in-character duets with co-star Troy Baker.

Johnson began dating writer and musician Brian W. Foster in 2012; they became engaged in 2018. In 2023, Johnson filed a restraining order against Foster citing abuse and threats, and later joined six other women in a lawsuit against him alleging assault, domestic violence, sexual battery, stalking, civil rights violations, and emotional distress.