Who is Ashley Bratcher?
Born on May 2, 1987 in North Carolina, USA, Ashley Bratcher (not her birth name) is an actress, best known as the star of the 2019 film “Unplanned” which portrays anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson. She is also known for her roles in several Christian-themed films during her career.
Ashley Bratcher’s net worth
As of the beginning of 2020, Ashley Bratcher’s net worth is estimated to be over $1 million earned through a successful acting career since 2012, including starring in several independent films. She has also made a few guest appearances in television programs.
Beginning of early life, education and career
Her mother had her when she was 19 years old, and Ashley initially grew up in a mobile home, but the family moved around a lot, and she eventually considered Georgia her home state, as she spent a lot of time there. From high school, she developed an interest in acting and began participating in various school and local productions.
After graduating from college, she enrolled at private Campbell University in North Carolina. The school’s history dates back to the 1880s when it was founded by a pastor.
They offer numerous programs and have connections with Malaysia at Tunku Abdul Rahman College. Their track and field team competes within the Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Ashley graduated with honors, but did not immediately go into acting, instead trying a short stint as a school teacher. She then decided to turn her full attention to acting and at the beginning of her career worked on several short and independent films, including “The Perfect Summer”, “Wrinkle” and “Fifty Shades of Olivia!”
Become famous
In 2013, Bratcher was cast in her first regular project in the movie “Safe Haven” though her role went uncredited. The film is based on the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name, starring Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough. In the same year she had another small role in “Are you here‘, starring Owen Wilson, Amy Poehler and Zach Galifianakis, follows the story of a man who inherits his estranged father’s fortune and then has to fight for it with his sister while also dealing with bipolar disorder.
In the following years, she continued her independent film work with “Mean Green”, “Southern Comfort”, “The Dempsey Sisters” and “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”.
In 2015, she started to get attention when she starred in the movie “Princess Cut” alongside Joseph Gray. It tells the story of a girl who, with the help of her father, has to rediscover the meaning of being in love with another person just after being devastated by her previous relationship. This began a series of Christian-themed films that helped establish her career.
Continue acting
After”Princess Snap”, Ashley was cast in “War Room” as the character Lindsay, teaming up with Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore and Alex Kendrick who directed the film. Critics gave it generally negative reviews, but the film was successful at the box office, earning $75 million worldwide and becoming the 5th highest-grossing Christian-themed film in the world.
In the same year she also worked on “90 Minutes of Heaven” with Hayden Christensen and Kate Bosworth. Based on the novel of the same name by Don Piper and Cecil Murphey, the film tells the story of a man who gets into a car accident and dies, only to miraculously come back to life and claim to have heaven seen.
She also had a few television projects in the year and had a small role in ‘Secrets and Lies’, an anthology series that aired on ABC based on an Australian series of the same name, in which she follows a detective who investigates various murder cases. She also worked on the documentary series “Your Worst Nightmare”, which reenacts various crimes, and features commentary from people involved in each case.
Recent projects and unplanned
In 2016, Bratcher was cast in an episode of “A haunting one”, Another anthology show that focuses on more paranormal experiences and tells stories of ghostly encounters, possessions and exorcisms that have allegedly taken place. The stories are often interspersed with real life stories, interviews and reenactments. Some of the show’s earlier episodes, including “A Haunting in Connecticut” and “A Haunting in Georgia,” were later made into movies. The following year, she had a small role in ‘Good Behavior’ playing a party girl, the story of a con artist played by Michelle Dockery who gets involved with a hitman.
The show ran for two seasons before being canceled.
Her latest is her most notable project as she starred in the movie “Unplanned”. She came very close to the role as her mother once thought about having an abortion as she was at a very young age during her pregnancy, but ultimately decided to raise Ashley. Based on the often disputed memoir of Abby Johnson, the film tells the story of Johnson as she works as the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic before becoming an anti-abortion activist. The movie was a success at the box office, but that’s about it heavily criticized by doctors, while the film’s highly sensitive themes led television networks to opt not to air the program.
Private life
Ashley married David Bratchner in 2010 and they have one child together. She admitted to feeling a little embarrassed after the birth of their child as it was not planned, and she remembered times with her mother when they depended on government assistance to make ends meet. She has since changed her mind after the birth of her son, and it has helped her deepen her faith in Christianity. Since filming “Unplanned”, she has also become an abortion advocate. She supported Living Infants Fairness Equality (LIFE) in Georgia, which would ban women who attempt an abortion when they are six weeks pregnant. One of her hobbies is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which she also promotes as a way of personal development; she enters competitions when she can.
