Ashley Johnson

Early life

Ashley Johnson was born on August 9, 1983, in Camarillo, California, the daughter of former test pilot Nancy (née Spruiell) and exploration ship captain Cliff Johnson. 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 when her acting career allowed but otherwise had an on-set teacher. She 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 cancer of the liver and lungs. Johnson needed a back brace for three years due to scoliosis and kyphosis, which affected her during her high school years.

Career

Johnson's career began at age six, when she played the role of Chrissy Seaver on the sitcom Growing Pains from 1990 to 1992. The character's age was accelerated from a toddler between seasons for plotting purposes. By the time she was 12, Johnson had been in the casts of eight television series. She later reprised her role as Chrissy in The Growing Pains Movie and Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers. In the one season series Phenom (1993–94), she played the mischievous younger sister of a rising teenage tennis star. She appeared in the 1994 sitcom All-American Girl, which also lasted for only one season. She played DJ's overbearing girlfriend Lisa in the Roseanne episode "The Blaming of the Shrew". During the 1995–96 ABC lineup, she played Gracie Wallace in the sitcom Maybe This Time. She played Alex Marshall in the 2000 comedy What Women Want. In 2008, she became a regular on the drama Dirt as Sharlee Cates. In 2009, Johnson appeared in "Omega", the first-season finale of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.

In 2012, she appeared in The Avengers (also directed by Whedon) as Beth, the waitress who is saved by Captain America. She was intended to appear in future films as his newest love interest (as implied in a brief scene in the film), but that plan was shelved and instead actress Emily VanCamp's Sharon Carter character became involved with Rogers. Although her role was minor, the Blu-ray edition of The Avengers contains some deleted scenes that expand her role in the film and further her interactions with Rogers. From 2015 to 2020, Johnson played FBI forensic specialist Patterson in the NBC drama series Blindspot.

As a voice actress, Johnson's earlier roles included Sean in the English dub of The First Snow of Winter, Gretchen Grundler on Disney's Recess, Terra in the second and fifth seasons of Teen Titans, Jinmay on Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! and Gwen Tennyson in the Ben 10 franchise. A major voice role came when she provided the voice and motion capture for Ellie in the PlayStation action-adventure game The Last of Us, which was released to critical acclaim and commercial success. She won a video game BAFTA for Best Performer, a VGX Award for Best Voice Actress, and a D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Character Performance for her role in the game. On March 12, 2015, she won another BAFTA for Best Performer for the same role in the game's downloadable content, The Last of Us: Left Behind. In 2015, she voiced Petra the Warrior in Minecraft: Story Mode by Telltale Games and Mojang. In 2016, she voiced Tulip Olsen in the pilot for Infinity Train and reprised the role for the series in 2019, additionally voicing Lake and the Steward.

In 2020, Johnson reprised the role of Ellie in The Last of Us Part II. For her performance, she was nominated for Best Performance at The Game Awards 2020, for Outstanding Achievement in Character at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and for Best Performer in a Leading Role at the 17th British Academy Games Awards. She portrayed Ellie's mother, Anna, in the live-action adaptation of The Last of Us. On her performance in the adaptation, The Daily Beast commented that "with less than 10 minutes of screen time, Johnson gives us one of the best scenes of The Last of Us".

Johnson appeared in several Geek & Sundry shows, including playing occult specialist Morgan on the web series Spooked, as well as the Alhambra and Dead of Winter episodes on the board gaming web series TableTop. In 2015, she began playing Pike Trickfoot on the Dungeons & Dragons actual play show Critical Role; in 2018, she began playing Yasha Nydoorin in the show's second campaign. Critical Role was both the Webby Winner and the People's Voice Winner in the "Games (Video Series & Channels)" category at the 2019 Webby Awards; the show was also both a finalist and the Audience Honor Winner at the 2019 Shorty Awards. After becoming hugely successful, the Critical Role cast left the Geek & Sundry network in early 2019 and set up their own production company, Critical Role Productions. Soon after, they aimed to raise $750,000 on Kickstarter to create an animated series of their first campaign, but ended up raising over $11 million. In November 2019, Amazon Prime Video announced that they had acquired the streaming rights to this animated series, now titled The Legend of Vox Machina; Johnson reprised her role as Pike Trickfoot. In late 2020, she was made president of the Critical Role Foundation, the studio's charity branch. In June 2021, she was added to the cast of Exandria Unlimited, an anthology spinoff of Critical Role. Three months later, she served as gamemaster for The Nautilus Ark, her own one-shot episode on the Critical Role channel. In October 2021, Johnson's Exandria Unlimited character Fearne Calloway returned in Critical Roles third campaign.

Johnson set up a photography company called Infinity Pictures with Mila Shah, her childhood best friend who works as a production assistant and occasional actress; there have been no updates on the company for many years, though it is still registered as active as of 2022. Johnson and Shah also co-hosted a podcast called Wildly Hot & Bothered, which ran for 13 episodes from 2012 to 2014. In 2015, they created and starred in Little Things, a web miniseries on YouTube about two friends living in Los Angeles and their habit of making awkward everyday situations even worse. The series was not released on YouTube until 2018.

Personal life

The first campaign of Critical Role began two years prior to the start of the series as a one-off, simplified Dungeons & Dragons game for Liam O'Brien's birthday. The players enjoyed the game so much that they continued to play it and brought in additional friends, including Johnson, who joined in the second game. After Felicia Day heard about the private home game from Johnson, she approached the group about playing it in a live-streamed format for Geek & Sundry.

Johnson enjoys singing and can play the guitar, piano, violin, and cello; she occasionally posted covers of songs on her SoundCloud page until late 2012. Her performance as Ellie in The Last of Us Part II included acoustic guitar covers of "Future Days" by Pearl Jam, "Take On Me" by A-ha, "True Faith" by New Order, and "Through the Valley" by Shawn James. She also joined co-star Troy Baker (in character as Ellie and Joel) to perform a cover of Johnny Cash's rendition of "Wayfaring Stranger", which plays over the end credits of the game. She later provided vocals for the Critical Role theme songs "Your Turn to Roll" and "It's Thursday Night".

In 2012, Johnson began dating writer and musician Brian W. Foster, who also went on to host the Critical Role after-show Talks Machina. Johnson was first introduced to Foster by Troy Baker when working on The Last of Us; Foster and Baker were then roommates. The couple announced their engagement in December 2018. In May 2023, it was reported that Johnson had separated from Foster and filed a restraining order against him, citing abuse and threats. All videos and mentions of Foster were wiped from the online profiles of Critical Role. In October 2023, Johnson and six other women (including her sister and two Critical Role employees) filed a lawsuit against Foster that alleged assault, domestic violence, gender violence, sexual battery, stalking, civil rights violations, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Web series

Audio books

Notes

References

References

1. "Behind The Voice Actors – Ashley Johnson". Behind The Voice Actors.
2. "Ashley Johnson Meets World - Pod Meets World".
3. (June 25, 2012). "Ashley Suzanne: Saint Barts Family Vacation! (Our Way-More-Fancy-Than-We-Usually-Take-Vacation Vacation)".
4. (October 24, 2018). "Between the Sheets: Ashley Johnson". [[Critical Role Productions]].
5. Knopper, Steve. (March 7, 2013). "Jonny Lang: No looking back for blues guitarist".
6. (October 20, 2020). "The World of Critical Role". [[Ten Speed Press]].
7. "Local actress has far outgrown her 'Growing Pains' start".
8. (October 17, 2013). "Jonny Lang: Finding Peace in Amazing Grace".
9. (May 4, 2012). "Former 'Growing Pains' child star has small-but-important 'Avengers' role".
10. (August 30, 2012). "The Avengers deleted scene sees Captain America as a man out of time".
11. Petski, Denise. (March 10, 2015). "Rachel DiPillo To Star In NBC Pilot 'Cuckoo'; Ashley Johnson Joins 'Blindspot'". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
12. Hussain, Tamoor. (June 5, 2013). "The Last of Us review round-up: 'Easily Naughty Dog's finest moment'". [[Future plc]].
13. "2014 Awards Category Detail Outstanding Character Performance". [[Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences]].
14. Harradence, Michael. (March 13, 2015). "The Last of Us voice actress Ashley Johnson's BAFTA speech in full".
15. Stedman, Alex. (December 10, 2020). "The Game Awards 2020: Complete Winners List". [[Penske Media Corporation]].
16. "2021 Awards Category Details Outstanding Achievement in Character". [[Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences]].
17. (March 3, 2020). "2020 BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations". [[BAFTA]].
18. Simons, Roxy. (January 15, 2023). "'The Last of Us' boss teases Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson's roles in HBO show".
19. O’Connor, Shannon. (March 13, 2023). "''The Last of Us'' Season Finale: Big Little Lies". The Daily Beast.
20. (January 3, 2013). "Alhambra: Ashley Johnson, Shane Nickerson, and Dodger Leigh Join Wil on TableTop, episode 17".
21. (February 19, 2015). "TableTop: Dead of Winter".
22. Duncan, Emily A.. (March 9, 2021). "An Introduction to Critical Role: Prepare Your Emotions".
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29. Whitten, Sarah. (April 19, 2019). "'Dungeons and Dragons' Kickstarter breaks record with $11.3 million campaign".
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33. Puc, Samantha. (September 24, 2020). "Critical Role Announces 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Foundation".
34. (September 13, 2021). "The Nautilus Ark: A Johnson Corp Odyssey {{!}} Ashley's One-Shot". [[Critical Role]].
35. (October 23, 2021). "Critical Role's New Campaign Features Some Surprising Characters".
36. "Infinity Pictures, Inc.".
37. "Wildly Hot & Bothered | a podcast by Ashley Johnson and Mila Shah".
38. "Little Things – YouTube".
39. Mercer, Matthew. (November 19, 2015). "It was very simplified 4E for just combat abilities. We converted to full Pathfinder right after.".
40. Furniss, Zack. (February 26, 2016). "Inside Critical Role: The Live D&D show led by voices you might recognize". [[Destructoid]].
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43. Shea, Brian. (December 22, 2016). "How Popular Voice Actors Took A D&D Game Global With Critical Role".
44. "AshleySuzanne".
45. Beresford, Trilby. (June 19, 2020). "Becoming Ellie: Ashley Johnson Navigates Grief and Guilt in 'The Last of Us Part II'".
46. (June 29, 2020). "Ellie & Joel – Wayfaring Stranger (from The Last of Us Part II)". thelastofusgame.
47. (March 26, 2019). "The Making of "Your Turn to Roll"". [[Critical Role Productions]].
48. (December 10, 2021). "Campaign 3 Opening Title: It's Thursday Night (Critical Role Theme)". [[Critical Role Productions]].
49. (October 22, 2015). "Brian W. Foster on Instagram". [[Instagram]].
50. Foster, Brian. (November 2, 2021). "Gonna pin this since I get this question here and on IG and in my chat every day: Unfortunately, Talks has been canceled. I believe there are plans for a new "after-show", but @CriticalRole would have that info. That's all I know and can share https://t.co/6iyuiRYBRZ".
51. (December 17, 2018). "Ashley Johnson on Instagram".
52. Mason, Aiden. (2018). "10 Things You didn't Know about Ashley Johnson".
53. Segarra, Edward. (May 23, 2023). "'The Last of Us' actress Ashley Johnson files restraining order against ex-boyfriend".
54. (May 23, 2023). "'The Last of Us' and 'Critical Role' star Ashley Johnson filed a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, saying she's endured 'many acts of terror' over years of abuse".
55. Smith, Ed. (May 23, 2023). "The Last of Us star files domestic violence order against ex-boyfriend".
56. White, Abbey. (October 6, 2023). "'The Last of Us' Star Ashley Johnson and Six Other Women Allege Sexual, Physical Abuse by Brian Foster".
57. Hoffer, Christian. (October 4, 2023). "The Last of Us Star Ashley Johnson and Six Others Sue Brian W. Foster for Abuse".
58. Vary, Adam B.. (October 6, 2023). "'Critical Role' Star Ashley Johnson, Six Other Women Allege Physical and Verbal Abuse By Brian Foster".
59. "Ashley Johnson (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors.
60. (July 17, 2001). "''Rustin'' (review)". Variety.
61. (January 19, 2016). ""Naruto Shippuden Set 23": The Allure of Power". ToonZone.com.
62. Spangler, Todd. (October 8, 2021). "Critical Role's 'Legend of Vox Machina' Series Premiere Date Set on Amazon Prime Video".
63. (October 8, 2021). "WATCH: Critical Role Performs a Scene from The Legend of Vox Machina".
64. (March 13, 2023). "The Last Of Us season 1 comes to a shattering conclusion".
65. Romano, Nick. (August 22, 2024). "'The Legend of Vox Machina' first look: 'Season 3 is going to leave a mark' (exclusive)".
66. Yin-Poole, Wesley. (July 24, 2025). "Critical Role's Prime Video Show The Mighty Nein Finally Has a Release Date — and a Star-Studded Guest Voice Cast {{!}} SDCC 2025".
67. Otterson, Joe. (2024-03-15). "'Among Us' Animated Series Casts Randall Park, Yvette Nicole Brown, Elijah Wood, Ashley Johnson".
68. (January 6, 2010). "Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall".
69. "2015 Games Performer – BAFTA Awards".
70. "Four Reasons Lego Marvel's Avengers Might Be The Best Lego Game Yet".
71. Obsidian. (April 7, 2018). "Oh hello @CriticalRole cast. And welcome to #Deadfire! #CriticalRole + #Deadfire https://t.co/uOSdvdXt9c".
72. Sawyer, Josh. (May 8, 2018). "Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire".
73. "Nominees".
74. (March 2, 2021). "BAFTA Games Awards 2021 Nominations Announced".
75. "Winners".
76. Hunt, Aimee. (April 13, 2023). "Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical reveals star-studded cast - Gayming Magazine".
77. Khan, Titas. (October 27, 2025). "All voice actors in Dispatch".
78. Knox, Kelly. (January 16, 2018). "Your First Look at the Official Art for the Second Critical Role Campaign". [[Geek & Sundry]].
79. (July 11, 2016). "Check Out Matt Mercer's New D&D Show | Force Grey: Giant Hunters".
80. (August 21, 2025). "Critical Role's D&D Campaign 4 Revealed: Brennan Lee Mulligan's New World 'Aramán' and 'West Marches' Twist". Variety.
81. Critical Role. (September 15, 2025). "WHOSE LEGENDS WILL BE WRITTEN IN ARAMÁN? ⚔️ 🧭 🪶 👀 Take a (respectful) first look at our stunning new #CriticalRole Campaign 4 adventurers before their tale begins at the table this OCTOBER 2ND! [ Artwork by @_solelle, with additional art and consultation by @agarthanguide 🎨✨ ][13 images]".
82. (August 6, 2020). "Animal Talking – Selena Gomez, Cory Barlog, Laura Bailey, Ashley Johnson, Shannon Woodward! (S02E07)". [[Gary Whitta]].
83. (June 10, 2021). "Critical Role Stars Lift the Lid on Their New Show, Exandria Unlimited".
84. King, Chris. (June 10, 2021). "Critical Role's next campaign launches this month with a new Dungeon Master".
85. (June 10, 2021). "Critical Role's next show is Exandria Unlimited".
86. Codega, Linda. (May 9, 2023). "Critical Role Teases a Spooky New Game—and a New System, Too".
87. (May 9, 2023). "Hype! Candela Obscura – Our New Horror Ttrpg Show Premieres May 25th!".
88. Spangler, Todd. (March 4, 2025). "''Weird Kids'': Critical Role's Ashley Johnson, Taliesin Jaffe Recount Their Bizarre Lives as Child Actors in New Show".
89. Stewart, Jazz. (May 12, 2025). "Critical Role announces new miniseries for Daggerheart, its custom D&D competitor".
90. McCauley, Tara. (2022-09-28). "Critical Role Cast Reprise Their Mighty Nein Roles for New Audiobook".
91. "Critical Role: Vox Machina—Stories Untold".