Ashley Laurence is an American actress and visual artist. She made her film debut in 1987 as the lead character, Kirsty Cotton, in Clive Barker's horror film Hellraiser (1987), a role she later reprised in Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), and Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002). The film franchise established her as a prominent actress in horror, and she subsequently starred in Mikey (1992) and Lurking Fear (1994).
Laurence's other notable film roles include Jenny Graves in Lightning Bug (2004) and Mrs. McCormack in Red (2008). In addition to film, Laurence has had guest appearances on several television series including Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1996), Suddenly Susan (1997), and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1999).
Laurence made her voice acting debut as Missy Carter in the video game The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (2014). Six years later, she returned to voice acting for the animated comedy television series JJ Villard's Fairy Tales (2020) which premiered on Adult Swim.
She was confirmed to appear on the second season of the Shudder anthology series Creepshow (2021).
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Career
Laurence began her career with guest roles on television series. In 1984, she made her acting debut with a recurring role on the CBS soap opera Capitol as Brenda Clegg. In 1986, Laurence had a guest appearance as Genna in an episode of the television series Highway to Heaven. In 1987, she made her film debut as the heroine Kirsty Cotton in Clive Barker's Hellraiser (1987). She starred alongside Clare Higgins and Doug Bradley as Pinhead. The film was a critical and commercial success, earning more than $14 million at the American box office. When discussing how she obtained the part, in a retrospective interview Laurence credited Barker for her being cast as the lead, stating:
