Ashley Judd (born April 19, 1968) is an American actress, who is best known for playing a number of strong characters in films such as Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes.
Judd appeared as Ensign Robin Lefler, a Starfleet officer, in two 1991 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Darmok” and “The Game”. From 1991 to 1994, she had a recurring role as Reed, the daughter of Alex (Swoosie Kurtz), on the NBC drama Sisters. She made her feature film debut with a small role in 1992’s Kuffs. In 1993 Judd fought for and was cast in her first starring role playing the title character in Victor Nuñez’s Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Winning, Ruby in Paradise. She received rave reviews playing Ruby Lee Gissing, a young woman trying to make a new life for herself, and it was this performance that would launch her career as an actress. Oliver Stone, who had seen her in Nuñez’s film, cast Judd in Natural Born Killers, but her… read more
Ashley Judd (born April 19, 1968) is an American actress, who is best known for playing a number of strong characters in films such as Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes.
Judd appeared as Ensign Robin Lefler, a Starfleet officer, in two 1991 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Darmok” and “The Game”. From 1991 to 1994, she had a recurring role as Reed, the daughter of Alex (Swoosie Kurtz), on the NBC drama Sisters. She made her feature film debut with a small role in 1992’s Kuffs. In 1993 Judd fought for and was cast in her first starring role playing the title character in Victor Nuñez’s Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Winning, Ruby in Paradise. She received rave reviews playing Ruby Lee Gissing, a young woman trying to make a new life for herself, and it was this performance that would launch her career as an actress. Oliver Stone, who had seen her in Nuñez’s film, cast Judd in Natural Born Killers, but her scenes were later cut from the version of the film released theatrically. The following year she gained further critical acclaim for her role as Harvey Keitel’s estranged daughter in Wayne Wang’s Smoke and also as Val Kilmer’s wife in Michael Mann’s Heat. That same year she also played the role of Callie in Philip Ridley’s dark, adult fairy tale, The Passion of Darkly Noon.
By the end of the 1990s, Judd had managed to achieve significant fame and success as a leading actress, after leading roles in several thrillers that performed well at the box office, including Kiss the Girls in 1997 and 1999’s Double Jeopardy. Several of her early 2000s films, including 2001’s Someone Like You and 2002’s High Crimes, received only mixed reviews and moderate box office success; although, she did receive positive recognition, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress, for her performance in the 2004 biography of Cole Porter, De-Lovely, opposite Kevin Kline. —wikipedia
