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Ashley Aufderheide
was not born when That ’70s Show aired in the nineties, but a quarter century later the Greenwich teen has found herself in the iconic Wisconsin basement at the heart of the show, leading a new generation of Point Place’s ragtag teens.
That “Wisconsin” basement is actually in a Hollywood soundstage, where Ashley is about to shoot her second season of the reboot, That ’90s Show. Calling it a big job is an understatement, but the seventeen-year-old has successfully melded her screen life as “Gwen” with school at Greenwich Academy so she could graduate with her longtime classmates this year.
The rising star considers That ’90s Show to be her big break, but “big break” is a relative term. Ashley has had quite a few, starting from when she was a toddler, and both the booker for Ralph Lauren and Susie Hilfiger approached Ashley’s mom in the same week and recruited the striking tot for their catalogs. Hilfiger noticed her at a Best & Co. Christmas party. “She came over to me and said, ‘Oh my gosh, we’d love to have your daughter in our catalog,’” recalls Ashley’s mom, Jillian Aufderheide. “A week later, we were at Susie’s house shooting the catalog.” Another mom recommended the agency Ford Models and soon Ashley was shooting ads for Ralph Lauren, Saks and Juicy Couture (with top photographer Stephen Meisel, no less).
Commercials and voiceover work followed.
At age eight, Ashley landed a lead role in the movie Infinitely Polar Bear, with Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014, and critics raved about Ashley’s performance.
“I was really young and working with very established actors, so that was a really great foundation,” says Ashley.
Speaking of established actors, the young talent also played Morgan Freeman’s granddaughter in Going in Style. She recently starred in ABC’s Emergence as Mia Evans and as Smash in the film Four Kids and It. A run like that, in the fickle acting business, indicates these may not be breaks at all but rather the steady upward trajectory of a kid with unstoppable drive, talent and work ethic. Granted, she did catch a break when the gods blessed her with can’t-take-our-eyes-off-the-screen good looks.
“Ashley is an extraordinarily hard worker,” says her mom. “She’s very modest in talking about what it takes. It takes a prodigious effort to excel in acting, with all the auditioning, memorizing, rehearsing. Your body is your instrument, so you have to manage your time and your health. She is also going to a very competitive school. It’s double the work.”
“Work” is also a relative term, and Ashley is clearly having a ball, not toiling like Gypsy Rose under Mama Rose’s thumb. “Even the auditioning process was so fun,” she says of That ’90s Show. “I had to learn a song. I sang ‘Seether’ by Veruca Salt, and I literally just went in a car to practice and went crazy. I wouldn’t stop singing it. I’d be brushing my teeth singing ‘Seether,’ I’d be going to school singing ‘Seether.’”
Oh, and she was not a singer. “I’d never sung before,” recalls Ashley. “You have to sing as if no one is watching, and then you are fine—even though everyone is watching!” Spoken like her character Gwen, who is “rebellious, bold, confident,” describes Ashley. “This is my introduction to comedy, and I feel like she is a great character to play for that, because she has her funny comedic side; but she also has a side that is straight up and vulnerable.”
Ashley doesn’t hesitate in a hilarious song-belting scene in Gwen’s bedroom in Episode One. The show is a multi-cam sitcom, so a studio audience is another new element f
or the young actor. “It was an incredible experience. I cried my first live show, because I was just so overjoyed,” she raves. “There’s such a special energy the audience brings. You really don’t understand it until you experience it. It helps build the scene. And it’s real laughter! It’s the best feeling when you say a line and the whole room laughs.”
This project also marks Ashley’s first in Los Angeles. “I feel like I’ve shot everywhere—New Mexico, Ireland, London, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey—but never L.A. I’m happy to be there. It has a great vibe.” Ashley was born in New York City but grew up in Greenwich; it is home. The teen doesn’t get homesick, though. “I think because I get so invested in the character that I’m in my character’s life and world and don’t have time to think about my own life,” she muses.
A long break between seasons enabled Ashley to enjoy much of her senior year at Greenwich Academy. Ashley was even able to jump into Brunswick’s production of Newsies this spring, which was her first experience doing theater. “Ashley played Spot Conlon, the intimidating leader of the Brooklyn newsies,” says director Seth Potter. “She balanced our rehearsals and challenging school work with the intense pull of acting on the world stage, Netflix.” Ashley knew she’d need to miss rehearsals so she did not aim for a lead. She was “so happy” with her role as Spot and dance numbers with the Bowery Beauties. Potter comments, “Ashley has as much humility as she does talent and balances the boisterous characters she plays with modesty and grace behind the scenes.” That being said, he notes: “Ashley was often leading an impromptu dance party backstage!”
The Aufderheides are grateful to Greenwich Academy for enabling the young star to essentially have it all, a normal childhood and a career in showbiz—which too often are oxymorons. “GA has been so supportive,” says Ashley. “They never told me I couldn’t do a project. They’ve always made sure I was involved with the school and could graduate. While away shooting, I also attended Dwight Global Online School and Stamford Online High School to fulfill all of my credits.”
Jillian adds, “GA has been spectacular. We could not have done it without them.”
Ashley is a loyal friend, and keeping her Greenwich Academy ties has been a priority. “Like Gwen, I’m a very protective friend,” says Ashley. “My family and my friendships are really important to me. My friends have been so supportive. They send videos watching the show and their reactions. Even though it came out exam week, they watched it on the Thursday it came out.” Ashley’s friend since kindergarten flew out to visit during one of her hiatus weeks, and she’s looking forward to a group coming to watch a live taping this summer.
When not with childhood friends, Ashley has her TV family. “The transition across the nation was easy for me, because the cast got along really well right away,” she says. “Essentially everyone from That ’70s Show, crew-wise, was there on That ’90s Show, so they accepted us into their pre-existing family. Also, when you are shooting, you are in a bubble—working was all I did when I was in L.A. I saw them five days a week, more if we saw each other on weekends. So you really instantly connect and are working together to create something you really love and you hope the world will love.”
“Ashley is an actor who raises the stakes and charts a path toward excellence that the rest of the cast can follow.” —Seth Potter, Newsies Director, Brunswick School
“I want to go to college. But I also want to expand what I’ve built professionally in the entertainment industry. I want to produce, direct, screen write and really explore different elements of the industry and create something cohesive from that as well as from what I learn academically.”
Mission accomplished, considering the Season 2 renewal announcement came from Netflix a mere two weeks after That ’90s Show debuted. That means in the short term, Ashley expects to be in L.A. for the summer shooting. In the long term, she says, “I have committed to Duke. But I also want to expand what I’ve built professionally in the entertainment industry. I want to produce, direct, screen write and really explore different elements of the industry and create something cohesive from that as well as from what I learn academically.”
Ashley dreams of one day working with Zendaya. “She is a big inspiration to me,” she says. “She really took her own path. She defied a lot of what people told her, and look where she ended up.” Ashley also admires Timothee Chalamet. “There is something about his energy—I can’t even put into words—that I’ve never seen in an actor.”
Her school director, Mr. Potter, might say the same about his Brooklyn newsie. “Ashley doesn’t need to be center stage,” says Potter, “but she ends up there because what she has to give is so positive and joyous.”
ASHLEY’S GREENWICH FAVES
Food?
CFCF “For the chai tea latte, it’s delish!” sobol “I love some Sobol!” granola bar “I used to go after Newsies rehearsals; it’s delicious.”
Fashion?
aritzia “I go there a lot.” love shack fancy “I went to their show this winter and they just opened a store on the Avenue, which is great.”
Jewelry?
shreve, crump and low “They are very supportive. Their jewelry is top notch.”
Spa?
“I wish I had time to go to a spa. That sounds amazing!”