Date of Birth

21 December 1987, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Birth Name

Ashley Michele Greene

Nickname

Asher

Height

5' 5" (1.65 m)

Mini Biography

Ashley Michele Greene was born in Jacksonville, Florida to parents Michele (Tatum), an insurance broker, and Joseph Lacy Greene, US Marine who runs a concrete business. A self-confessed tomboy and "daredevil", Ashley loved to try to keep up with her older brother Joe, taking on activities such as taekwondo and winning several awards. Ashley says she was not allowed to spar the girls in taekwondo class because she "beat the girls up". She even accidentally once gave a boy she liked a bloody nose and lip while sparring. Ashley admits she is a "competitive little sucker".

During her early teen years, Ashley found herself hanging out with older girls, which impacted her self-esteem when she found them to be more mature and, in her mind, prettier than she was. Ashley describes herself as a "hot mess" as a teenager. Ashley's mother put her into modeling classes to improve her confidence, and Ashley began to consider becoming a model as a career. After being told she was too short to be a model, Ashley considered becoming a lawyer and getting a degree in psychology. She actually convinced her parents to let her leave her private school to attend a public one which had a law and psychology program. However, after taking a commercial class, which led to acting class, Ashley knew what she wanted to do - acting.

Luckily for Ashley, her parents were supportive and allowed her to move to LA at seventeen years of age. Due to her excellent grades and extra credits, she was able to graduate high school early to follow her acting dream.

For three years, Ashley struggled to find acting roles. She picked up small roles here and there in TV shows such as Punk'd (2003) and Crossing Jordan (2001), and some very small film roles in Shrink (2009) and King of California (2007).

Ashley's big break came when she got to audition for the film, Twilight (2008), based on Stephenie Meyer's popular book series. She originally auditioned for "Bella", but, as she says herself, "I was no Bella". She was called back to audition for the role of "Alice Cullen". After a long auditioning process, Ashley was finally told she got the part.

Ashley had previously worked in restaurants but, like the rest of her fellow "Twilight" cast-mates, Ashley found herself suddenly thrust into the limelight. Though she says she doesn't get the same kind of insanity as the boys - especially Robert Pattinson. She says most fans relate to her on a "best friend" level rather than screaming at her hysterically.

Ashley has already begun filming other roles and has high hopes for her career outside of the "Twilight" franchise. She has said she wants to be a superhero, a Bond girl and possibly Wonder Woman in future projects.

Trivia

• Has one sibling named Joe who lives in Hollywood, California, and is pursuing acting. Her parents Joey and Michele still live in Jacksonville, Florida, and are happily married.
• She graduated high school early and moved from Jacksonville Florida to Hollywood at age 17.
• She adores Audrey Hepburn and, as a result, one of her all-time favorite movies is Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).
• Is the face of StopStaring.com, a website that sells retro-style dresses.
• Attended Samuel W. Wolfson High School in Jacksonville, Florida.
• Studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute.
• Close friends with Twilight (2008) co-stars Jackson Rathbone, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed and Rachelle Lefevre.
• Ashley had to learn to pitch like a professional for the baseball scene in Twilight (2008).
• Ashley wanted to be a model but got told that she was too short and was advised to take up acting.
• Was considered one of the 55 faces of the future by Nylon Magazine's Young Hollywood Issue.
• She went out with Joe Jonas July 2010 - March 2011.
• Ranked #17 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" of 2011.
• Ashley Greene is the face of mark. cosmetics.
• Shares the same first name and middle name as Ashley Tisdale, Ashley Michelle.
• Was in a relationship with Broadway actor/musician Reeve Carney. The two mutually split in October of 2012.
• Born on the same date as Elliot Page.
• (July 6, 2018) Married her boyfriend of 5 years Paul Khoury in San Jose, California. Greene and Khoury wed in front of guests and famous friends including Liam Hemsworth, Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson, Brittany Snow, Lauren Parsekian, Aaron Paul, Evan Ross and Ashlee Simpson. The bride wore a custom back-bearing dress by Katie May for the ceremony, and later changed into a statement reception gown by Windi Williams-Stern, owner of Studio Unbiased. The couple exchanged vows they'd written themselves during the nuptials. In December 2016, Khoury proposed at the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls during a vacation to Australia and New Zealand. To announce the engagement, Greene shared footage of the exact moment Khoury got down on bended knee on her Instagram.

Quotes

• I grew up in Middleburg and Jacksonville, and went to University Christian School before transferring to Wolfson High School when I was in tenth grade.
• I moved to Los Angeles, California, at the age of 17 to pursue an acting career.
• I initially planned to become a model, but was told that I was not tall enough at 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) to be a fashion model and should instead focus on acting in commercials.
• As an actor you want people to know you and there are times you want your pictures taken, but it's unnerving to walk out of a venue with friends and there are 20 people flashing lights in your face. Do you know how bright those lights are?
• My whole outlook has changed. You go into rooms with producers and directors and you're so nervous, and you're thinking these are big, bad studio heads and they want you to fail. Then you do something like this, and you can walk into these rooms and they want to know what you think, what you want to do, how you view their script. I go into these rooms [now], sit down, and have conversations with these people, which is what I should have been doing from the beginning. It's a different world.
• My life is a crazy whirlwind right now. I'm just working and working and working. With the success of the film, there are a lot of things you get offered, places people want you to go just to have you there, and I really haven't been able to do that. Between this and other films, I've just been working. You know, I was a struggling actor, and I was modeling to pay bills. I was worried about rent, and I was living with two other people. To go from that to me going, "I need a break, I need a day off", is a crazy thing. It's good, and it's tiring, but my mom being able to see what I'm doing every single day on the Internet? It's crazy! From nobody really knowing or really caring who you are or what you do to suddenly making headlines with what you're eating, where you're going, who you're hanging out and having coffee with is nuts. But I guess it helps when I'm walking into these rooms with directors and producers, all of a sudden, they know who I am. That's the craziest thing ... -- on how her life has changed since Twilight (2008) debuted.
• I definitely try to make it home. I actually have my family fly out, and I have a couple of Florida friends fly out sometimes, and then I have a best friend or two in L.A. I just try hanging out and spending time with my friends - I try and live a normal lifestyle. -- on what she likes to do for fun.
• ... I don't think I'm going to be pigeonholed. If I always played the hot, stupid chick, then I might be pigeonholed as that. I get to kind of choose my films, which hopefully I will choose wisely and build off of that versus pissing the fans off.
• After taking commercial and acting class, I fell in love with acting and realized that I preferred it over modeling.
• It was a really long, tedious process. I hadn't read the books, but I read them because they wouldn't release the script or breakdown. My manager told me to go into the audition and to do a good job and not to mess up because the casting directors were sticklers. So, I was like, "How am I supposed to do a good job? I don't even know what I'm supposed to be playing!" I originally auditioned for "Bella", and so I read the first book and kind of fell in love with it. I went in and auditioned and actually they called me back in and said, "No, you're not right for Bella", so I was bummed, and then they brought me back for "Alice". I worked more on it - that was all I did for a couple of days before I went in. I came in probably like five times before I actually got the role - and then I went home for Christmas and literally just had to wait and wait. I thought that I didn't get it again, and then I got the call that I was "Alice" and I freaked out and called my dad and mom -- on how she got the role of "Alice Cullen" in Twilight (2008).
• I need a guy that understands give-and-take. I can't be the only one giving.