NYWIFT Blog

By Joyce Hills

Welcome to NYWIFT, Ashley Bacon!

Ashley Bacon is an actor and producer in New York. She leads the 80s thriller Something of a Monster which was released in December on AppleTV, and her claim to fame is a recurring arc on Orange is the New Black.

She was nominated for Best Actor at Cindependent for her work in The Flip Side (2023).

Upcoming projects include leading the film A Matchmaker’s Christmas, a star-studded community fundraiser of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and raising her small child.

She lives in Brooklyn with – in her words – “two cats, one daughter, and one husband.”

We welcome actor and producer Ashley Bacon to NYWIFT! In her New Member Spotlight, we discussed the famous RDJ scene that inspired Ashley to become an actor, the community garden motivating her next project, and her favorite film she’s worked on so far. Let’s dive in!

NYWIFT Member Ashley Bacon

Welcome to NYWIFT! Could you give our readers a brief introduction to yourself?

I’m an actor who lives in Brooklyn with my husband, daughter, and two cats. My hobbies are primarily activities that died with the advent of screens: textiles, cooking, baking, etc. No relation to any famous Bacons.

What brought you to NYWIFT?

I was a member of Pano, and when they announced they were shutting their doors, I went looking for another group of industry folks with whom I could shamelessly slam prosecco!

What inspired you to pursue your career as an actress? Can you share with us a cornerstone experience that solidified your ambition and trajectory?

When I was a child, my favorite movie was Heart and Souls, starring the 90s cocaine-fever dream that was Robert Downey, Jr. There’s a scene where RDJ acts out all the parts of a full-bodied fight between five or six of the characters. That probably doesn’t say anything great about me, but I was obsessed with that scene and used to perform it for any hapless adult who wandered into our home. I have been searching for experiences like that ever since. 

Your 80s Thriller film Something of a Monster is streaming on Apple TV+. What are you most excited for audiences to experience when they see this movie? What was your favorite scene to film? 

I’m so excited for folks to check out non-traditional thrillers about female bodies; this film is so beautiful, bleak, and eerie. The whole thing was shot in two weeks in February while I was pregnant, so production was pretty wild for me, but there was a late night in an abandoned 1950s pool house where we all crowded around the generators and danced to stay warm that I have a particular fondness for.

You are currently looking forward to starring in a community fundraiser of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Tell us more about the project and how it brings Shakespeare to the community!

My husband is a filmmaker and director, and we joined the neighborhood community garden years ago when he spontaneously decided to keep bees. Years later, we’re still members of this garden but scrapped the bees, and when he was asked to assist with community engagement events in the garden, this was what he landed on.

He’s roped in a bunch of our neighbors, including some garden children, and it will be a totally lovely night of running around like children playing pretend outside. I’m very excited for this one [laughs]. My daughter will play a fairy if she feels like it.

What has been the most fulfilling project you’ve worked on so far? How did it shape your passion for your work?

I loved making Something of a Monster, which I did with my best friends. Proper indie film virtually doesn’t exist, and when it does, it is often hard on the heart, but this was great. Every person who touched this film was so wildly generous in a myriad of ways, and I thank my lucky stars to have so many amazing people in my life. 

Connect with Ashley Bacon’s work and journey at @shleybacon.

(All images courtesy of Ashley Bacon)