Aya Cash

Aya Rachel Cash (born (1982-07-13)July 13, 1982) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Gretchen Cutler in the FX/FXX dark comedy series You're the Worst (2014–2019), and as Stormfront in the Prime Video superhero drama series The Boys (2020). She was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy for the former.

Aya Cash
Cash in 2014
Born
Aya Rachel Cash[1]

(1982-07-13) July 13, 1982
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota (BFA)
OccupationActress
Years active2006–present
Spouse(s)
Josh Alexander
​
(m. 2012)​
Parent(s)Kim Addonizio (mother)
Relatives

Cash also appeared in numerous films, including The Oranges (2011), Sleepwalk with Me (2012), Begin Again (2013), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Mary Goes Round (2017), Game Over, Man! (2018), and Scare Me (2020).

Early life and education

Cash was born in San Francisco, to poet and novelist Kim Addonizio and Buddhist teacher Eugene Cash. Her father's family is Jewish, whereas her mother is Catholic and of Italian descent.[2][3] Cash has described herself as Jewish,[2] and explained that their surname was originally something like "Chirsch".[2]

Cash is an alumna of the San Francisco School of the Arts.[4] She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, in partnership with the Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program.[5][6] She then moved to New York City, where she began her acting career. For years, she struggled financially and worked as a full-time waitress to make ends meet.[7]

Career

Television

Cash's television appearances include Brotherhood, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Mercy, and The Newsroom. Cash was also a series regular in the 2011 Fox comedy Traffic Light, which ran for one season. From 2014 to 2019, she starred in the FX Network series You're the Worst as Gretchen Cutler.[8] She received critical acclaim for her performance, with the website The A.V. Club calling her acting in the second season "the best TV performance of 2015".[9]

In 2019, she was cast as Stormfront in the second season of the Prime Video superhero dark comedy-drama series The Boys. The second season premiered in September 2020.[10]

Film

Cash's film credits include The Oranges, Winter of Frozen Dreams, Off Jackson Avenue, Begin Again, The Bits In Between, and The Happy House.[11] She had a small role as Janet, Jordan Belfort's assistant in The Wolf of Wall Street.[12]

Theatre

Additionally, Cash has appeared on Off-Broadway.[13] In 2014, she starred in the world premiere of Zoe Kazan's play Trudy And Max In Love.[8]

Personal life

In 2012, Cash married producer and writer Josh Alexander.[2] They live together in New York City.[14][2]

Cash said that she has a hawk tattooed on her back because she was told that Aya means "hawk" in Hebrew. However, when she visited Israel she was told that "Aya" (איה) is an archaic word for "hawk", though it is, in fact, the modern word for "honey buzzard", a different bird of prey.[2]

Cash is a celebrity ambassador for INARA, an NGO that helps war-wounded refugee children from Syria get medical help.[15]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Off Jackson Avenue Olga
2008 Deception Secretary #2
2009 Winter of Frozen Dreams Prostitute
2009 The Bits in Between Suzy
2011 The Oranges Maya
2012 Sleepwalk with Me Hannah
2013 The Happy House Wendy
2013 Begin Again Jenny
2013 The Wolf of Wall Street Janet
2014 Loitering with Intent Jesse
2016 10 Crosby Aya Short film
2016 All Exchanges Final Dom Short film
2017 Village People Barbara
2017 Mary Goes Round Mary
2018 Brand New Old Love Hannah Becker
2018 Game Over, Man! Cassie
2018 Social Animals Jane
2020 Scare Me Fanny

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Law & Order Janine Lesko Episode: "Kingmaker"
2006 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Lori Episode: "Weeping Willow"
2007 Brotherhood Martha Danners Episode: "Shelter from the Storm 1:1-2"
2007 Spellbound Chrissy Unaired CW pilot
2009 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Katrina Lychkoff Episode: "Hothouse"
2010 Mercy Bliss Edlestein Episode: "Too Much Attitude and Not Enough Underwear"
2010 Strange Brew Lizzy Unaired FOX pilot
2011 Traffic Light Callie Main role; 13 episodes
2012 Friday Night Dinner Lizzy Unaired NBC pilot
2012 A Gifted Man Trish Sulloway Episode: "In Case of Heart Failure"
2013 The Newsroom Shelly Wexler 3 episodes
2013 We Are Men Claire 5 episodes
2014–2019 You're the Worst Gretchen Cutler Lead role; 62 episodes
2015 Modern Family Vanessa Episode: "Rash Decisions"
2015 The Good Wife Amber Audrey Episode: "Don't Fail"
2015 Sirens Cindy Episode: "Let Pythons be Pythons"
2015 The Walker Unknown 2 episodes
2016 American Dad! Jody the Waitress Episode: "The Unincludeds"
2016–2019 Easy Sherri 4 episodes
2019 Fosse/Verdon Joan Simon Miniseries
2019 Will & Grace Olivia Walker Episode: "The Scales of Justice"
2020 The Boys Klara Risinger / Liberty / Stormfront[16] Main role (season 2); 8 episodes

Theatre
Year Title Role Venue
2006 The Pain and the Itch Kalina Playwrights Horizons
2008 From Up Here Lauren Manhattan Theatre Club
2008 Three Changes Steffi Playwrights Horizons
2009 Offices Laura / Emma / Secretary Linda Gross Theater
2011 The Other Place The Woman Music Box Theatre
2011 Happy Hour Performer Peter Norton Space
2014 Trudy and Max in Love Trudy South Coast Repertory
2017 The Light Years Ruth / Adeline Playwrights Horizons
2018 Kings Lauren The Public Theater

Awards and nominations
Year Association Category Work Result Ref.
2016 Gold Derby Awards Best Comedy Lead Actress You're the Worst Nominated [17]
Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated [18]
TCA Awards Individual Achievement in Comedy Nominated [19]
2021 Critics' Choice Super Awards Best Actress in a Superhero Series The Boys Won [20]

References
  1. "Aya Rachel Cash, Born 07/13/1982 in California". CaliforniaBirthIndex.org. July 13, 1982. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  2. "Jews in the News: Floyd Harold Kushner, Aya Cash and Josh Alexander - Tampa Jewish Federation". www.jewishtampa.com.
  3. Wirsing, Kathryn (April 30, 2019). "Aya Cash Talks Michelle Williams, Mental Health, and Being More Famous Than Her Husband". Marie Claire.
  4. "Bio: Aya Cash". Fox 50 Raleigh Durham Fayetteville. February 2, 2011. Archived from the original on July 25, 2014.
  5. "A Guthrie 'guinea pig' makes good in Hollywood". Minneapolis Star Tribune. February 5, 2011.
  6. Behl, Denise (December 16, 2016). "TAD Alumna Aya Cash is Published in the New York Times". University of Minnesota. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  7. Fetters, Ashley. "Aya Cash of "You're the Worst" Is Actually Pretty Much the Best". GQ. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  8. Oliver Lyttleton (April 28, 2014). "10 Comic Actresses Who Deserve A Big-Screen Leading Role". Indiewire.com.
  9. "The best TV performances of 2015". The A.V. Club. December 21, 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  10. Petski, Denise (July 19, 2019). "'The Boys' Renewed For Season 2 By Amazon; Aya Cash Closes Deal As Stormfront". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  11. Michael Atkinson (May 2, 2013). "Modestly Made and Executed, The Happy House Is Pretty Likeable The Village Voice May 2, 2013". The Village Voice. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  12. "Aya Cash From 'You're The Worst' Wasn't An Edgy Girl Next Door in 'Wolf of Wall Street'". Bustle. July 17, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  13. "Internet Off-Broadway Database Profile". Lortel.org. Archived from the original on September 22, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  14. "'The Andy Greenwald Podcast': Aya Cash of 'You're the Worst'". Grantland. October 29, 2015.
  15. "You're the Worst star Aya Cash becomes the best by joining as celebrity ambassador". INARA. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  16. Romano, Nick (October 9, 2020). "How The Boys season 2 crafted its gutsiest season yet". EW.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  17. Montgomery, Daniel (September 7, 2016). "Gold Derby TV Awards 2016: 'People v. O.J. Simpson' leads winners, 'Game of Thrones' & 'Veep' also prevail". Gold Derby. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  18. Gray, Tim (December 14, 2015). "'Mad Max,' 'Fargo' Top Critics' Choice Nominations". Variety. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  19. Prudom, Laura (June 22, 2016). "'Mr. Robot,' 'The People v. O.J. Simpson' Lead TCA Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  20. Hammond, Pete (November 19, 2020). "'Palm Springs', 'Lovecraft Country' Top Movie And Series Nominations For Inaugural Critics Choice Super Awards; Netflix Lands 35 Nods". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
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