Ashley Leggat

Early life

Leggat was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and has Scottish and Irish ancestry on her mother's side. Leggat began her theatrical training with Theatre Aquarius's Performing Arts Program under the direction of Lou Zamprogna. That same year, Leggat made her professional theatre debut playing Marta in Theatre Aquarius's production of The Sound of Music.

Leggat went on to perform in several of the company's productions, including The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Cinderella, Anne of Green Gables, Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang, Jekyll And Hyde and The Wizard of Oz. She also performed the role of Clara in The Nutcracker at the Hamilton Place Theatre.

Career

Beginning in 2004, she appeared in the Disney feature film Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen as Marcia, also starring Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox, the television movie A Very Married Christmas, with Joe Mantegna and Jean Smart and played series lead Kat Adams in Ace Lightning.

Leggat performed concurrent recurring roles on the series I Was a Sixth Grade Alien for Fox and YTV, and In a Heartbeat for the Disney Channel. She performed a guest lead role on the series Real Kids, Real Adventures, and a lead role on the CBC Radio drama Articles of Faith. As well, she appeared in the cable television film What Girls Learn, starring Elizabeth Perkins and Scott Bakula; the Disney television movie The Music Man, starring Matthew Broderick; the comedy series The Blobheads; and the fantasy science-fiction series The Zack Files. In 2005, Leggat performed in Moze Mossanen's short film Roxana as part of CBC's "Opening Night" series.

In 2005, Leggat was cast in the co-lead role of Casey McDonald in the Family Channel family comedy series Life with Derek. The series ran for four seasons before ending its run in 2009. On July 31, 2009, Leggat commented on her official Facebook page that they would begin shooting Vacation with Derek in September of that year; it aired in Canada on the Family Channel in June 2010, and in the U.S. on Starz in 2011.

Leggat starred in the Toronto version of the play Dirty Dancing, and received critical acclaim for her lead role of Baby.

In 2010, Leggat was cast in MTV's Made... The Movie as the main antagonist, Tiffany. In 2015, she starred in the independent film People Hold On, directed by Life with Derek co-star Michael Seater.

Charity

Leggat is a supporter of Count Me In, the largest youth-led movement of its kind. Based in Canada, the ultimate mission of Count Me In is to promote student volunteerism, and help connect young people with community service opportunities that match their interests, passions and lifestyle. Count Me In is the link between teenagers and the charitable sector, inspiring community involvement, leadership, and positive social change.

Leggat hosted the 2012 "Count Me In Conference", which has been recognized as the largest youth-run empowerment event in North America. Following the event, Leggat logged onto Twitter to share her support for Count Me In saying "@ShaneFeldman You are the most inspirational person in my life! So proud of you and what was accomplished at CMIC! Thank you. XO". – Count Me In was founded by teen activist Shane Feldman.

Personal life

Leggat has four older brothers. She is close friends with her Life with Derek co-star, Michael Seater.

In 2011, she married longtime boyfriend, hockey player Jeremy Williams. They have a daughter born in February 2017.