Ashley Suzanne Johnson (born August 9, 1983) is an American actress. She became known as a child actress for her role as Chrissy Seaver on Growing Pains (1990–1992). As an adult, she is known for television roles as Amber Ahmed on The Killing (2011–2012) and Patterson on Blindspot (2015–2020). She has appeared in films such as What Women Want (2000), 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.
As a voice actress, Johnson is known for providing 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 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), and Tulip Olsen and Lake on Infinity Train (2019–2020), 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 becoming 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 Suzanne Johnson was born in Camarillo, California, on August 9, 1983, the daughter of former test pilot Nancy (née Spruiell) and exploration ship captain Cliff Johnson. She is of Norwegian, Scottish, and Swedish descent. 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. Her father was often away for months at a time and would bring back souvenirs from countries such as Japan. 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. Johnson attended school in nearby Burbank and later studied violin and piano at the International School of Music in Glendale. When she was 16, her father died of complications from hepatitis C and liver and lung cancer.
