Lynne Ashe

Hailing from Gainesville, Georgia, Lynne is the middle child of three to Nat Ashe, a poultry industry executive, and Bebe Ashe, a part-time legal secretary. Lynne knew by the age of four that she wanted to be both an actor and a writer. Around age 8, she was distressed to learn that the stage name she had picked for herself was already taken. It was Debbie Reynolds. Lynne is primarily of Irish and English descent, with rumors that she is very distantly linked to Thomas Ashe, one of the first settlers in Ireland in the 1500s, who in turn is very distantly related to Queen Elizabeth II. But that's too much genealogy research to prove or disprove, so she's happy just to entertain the idea as a possibility. Lynne received a BA in Theatre Arts from Brenau University and was one of the first graduates of the Gainesville Theatre Alliance, a joint program between UNG and Brenau. She received a graduate assistantship in Wake Forest University's MA Theatre program. It was at Wake Forest that she studied under professor James Dodding (whose former students also include Tom Baker, David Bowie, Tom Hulce, and Gary Oldman) and developed a passion for Shakespeare and British Restoration Theatre. Dodding encouraged her to apply for (and she received) a grant to study for a summer at The Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon Avon. While at Wake Forest, Lynne sustained an ankle injury requiring reconstructive surgeries and had to take off half a semester for recovery. (And which also prevents her from being able to wear heels). She was unable to complete the missed coursework before her assistantship funds ran dry. She decided to postpone completion of her degree because she wanted to pay down the medical debt before taking on a student loan. Unfortunately, she was never able to complete her degree. But she considers the opportunity of working with professors Maya Angelou and Dodding, along with the Stratford experience, to be just as valuable as the degree itself. Go Deacs! While she seemed to always excel at all things she put her mind to, there was one aspect of her life that she couldn't master, and she allowed that to dictate the course of her career. She began developing weight issues at puberty, especially in her lower body. She claims to have been on a diet since age 11 "that was the last year my ever mother offered me a birthday cake - because of my weight." While in college, she went on an extreme diet because she wanted to land the part of Joan of Arc in Jean Anouilh's play The Lark. She got the part and played to rave reviews, but the day after the play closed, she was hospitalized for nearly two weeks with severe dehydration and gall bladder disease. The doctor said if she didn't stop dieting, she likely wouldn't live to see age thirty. She followed doctor's orders, weight kept creeping on, and she suffered with bouts of depression. Because of her negative self-image, Lynne decided she did not want to be seen on screen or film. Not wanting to give up acting entirely, she reserved performance for the stage and did not seek out larger venues. In 2010, she was finally diagnosed with a genetic fat disorder called Lipedema aka Lipoedema. Unlike the fat of regular obesity, lipedema fat cannot be metabolized, so it is impervious to diet and exercise. It was only at that point, with the self-acceptance of realizing that she was genetically pre-disposed to have weight issues that could not be resolved, that Lynne began to seek work in film and television. "You have to own it and release any shame associated with looking different and just be who you are." Ashe states that since beginning to work on screen, she has been contacted by numerous women who also suffer with lipedema who say that they feel more accepted and validated by seeing someone who looks much like themselves gaining success and not allowing the condition to squelch their identity. Lynne learned one is never too old to reach for your dreams, and she started both film acting and writing later in life. Her first film break was being hired to do a scene in Wild Oats (2016) with two of her idols and Oscar-winning icons: Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange. In her first ten years in the business, Lynne has appeared in numerous films and episodic programs, including The Suicide Squad (2021) (Polka Dot Man's Mom); I, Tonya (2017) (Shawn's Mother); Office Christmas Party (2016) (Rita); One of These Days (2020) (Ruthie); DC's Stargirl (2020) (Nurse Love); along with Dopesick (2021), Doom Patrol (2019), Claws (2017), Brockmire (2017), HBO's The Outsider (2020), and many others. In screenwriting, her first feature screenplay Scuppernongs received international acclaim and numerous screenwriting awards and honors, including winning the Portland Screenplay Awards (Best Feature), Moody Crab Film Fest (Best Plot), Gold Star Movie Awards (Best Dialogues) and being a Finalist (usually in top ten) in other international film festivals and screenwriting competitions including Women Who Write in Film, Australia Independent Film Festival, Louisville International Festival of Film, Ojai Film Festival, Dallas International Film Festival's Screenwriting Competition, Austin Revolution Film Festival, Filmmatic Drama Screenplay Awards, Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship, Page Turner Screenplays, Pitch Now Screenplay Competition, and Screencraft Drama Competition.