Ashley Nicole Rickards is an American actress, born on May 4, 1992, standing at 5' 3¾" (1,62 m) tall. She is known for her roles in MTV's Awkward as Jenna Hamilton, and in The CW teen drama series One Tree Hill as Samantha "Sam" Walker.
Growing up on a horse farm catering to children with special needs, Rickards attended a local Montessori school, where she had her first taste of acting in an opera production at the age of 13. She graduated from high school at the age of 15 and is a member of Mensa.
After attending a local talent showcase, Rickards traveled to Los Angeles, gathering a team of representatives. She began appearing in minor roles, restricted by child labor laws, and made guest appearances and shorts before landing the role of Samantha Walker in One Tree Hill for the 2008-2009 season.
Rickards spent much of 2009 attending auditions, including a proposed lead-role in the film Dirty Girl, which fell through. In 2010, she appeared in an episode of the legal drama Outlaw and auditioned for the lead-role in Awkward. Initially rejected, she landed both roles after her manager sent a tape of her work on Fly Away, where she played a severely autistic girl.
In her spare time, Rickards enjoys writing poetry, scripts, and painting. She is a former competitive equestrian and helped launch the Project Futures Somaly Mam Foundation in 2011, working to prevent and end human trafficking and sexual slavery in Southeast Asia.
