Date of Birth

4 December 1992, Sarasota, Florida, USA

Birth Name

Ashley Nicole Rickards

Height

5' 3¾" (1.62 m)

Mini Biography

Ashley Nicole Rickards is an American actress. She graduated from high school, at age 15, and is currently a member of MENSA. She has been in various films and television shows, portraying a wide variety of characters, most notably Fly Away (2011), in which she portrayed "Mandy", a severely autistic girl. She is also the lead character, "Jenna Hamilton", in MTV's Awkward. (2011). A former competitive equestrian, Ashley is also on the board of directors for "Project Futures Somaly Mam Foundation", which works to prevent and end human trafficking and sexual slavery in south east Asia and, soon, worldwide. Ashley writes poetry, scripts, and short stories in her spare time.

Trivia

• An animal lover, Ashley rides, trains and carts horses and enjoys sharing her pets with others through pet therapy programs that focus on the disadvantage and special needs children as well as the elderly.
• Ashley took Polish as a language in high school and graduated with honors.
• Ashley is a member of MENSA.
• In Wilmington, North Carolina, filming One Tree Hill (2003). [January 2009]

Quotes

• I'm horrible at quoting movies! Even my very favorites are not easily recalled or programmed to memory. When people start movie quoting around me, I'm that person who just smiles and then looks up the reference later.
• I'm not saying standardized tests are the worst ever, but there's an in-between and I don't think we're there yet. That's what I mean when I say I have an issue with it. There's no way a kid can learn in a class with 40 to 45 people. I had the power to get out of that system and pursue things that I wanted to do and I did that.
• I think that you never fall out of love with somebody, you just let go and move on.
• Frankly, the reason I joined MENSA is because I was dating a guy at the time who spoke five languages and could solve a Rubik's Cube literally with his eyes closed because it's just an algorithm.
• When I believe in something, I support it fully. On that note, I totally don't support Velcro shoes.
• I'm always looking to do different roles and play around a little bit. That's always the fun part of my job.
• I love skin care and actually wanted to be an esthetician for many years.
• I have everything in my house organized to an unnecessary T, and I love it! The only downside: I have no excuses for losing my to-do lists.
• Yeah, the whole 'One Tree Hill' experience made me realize I wanna write, and produce, and direct as well as act. I'm interested in all facets of the industry.
• I'm sort of a reverse Method actor. In my personal life, I become my characters. After 'One Tree Hill', I started dressing in Converse and ripped jeans and hoodies. On 'Awkward', it manifests in how I speak.
• As an actor, I think it's always important to separate yourself from your characters because, when you include yourself in a character, you're taking a liberty that you don't really have unless you're life is that incredibly close to the character.
• My ideal role would be anything that allows me to play anyone the public is familiar with and to be able to show them that, but in a new light.
• I've always loved horses. When I was younger, I competed in horse shows and did quite well.