Alison Thornton

Alison Thornton
Born
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityCanadian
American
Years active2013–present

Alison Grace Thornton is a Canadian-American actress. She is best known for playing Zooey Hernandez Frumpkis in Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, and Lydia Spring in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

Early life

Alison Grace Thornton was born in Vancouver, British Columbia,[1] Canada to American parents Allen Thornton and Wendy Loken Thornton (both psychology professors), who immigrated to Canada and became citizens. She has an older sister, Emily Marie Thornton.[citation needed]

Thornton graduated from Dr. Charles Best Secondary School in 2017 and is currently attending Simon Fraser University. She is fluent in both English and French. She currently lives in Vancouver and Los Angeles.[citation needed]

Career

Thornton began performing at the age of five[1] in dance, singing, piano, and theater at Place des Arts in Coquitlam, British Columbia.[2][3] In her first television role, she played Angeline Bennett in the Hallmark Channel movie Let It Snow starring Candace Cameron Bure and Alan Thicke. She then played Charlotte Spehn in the movie The Color of Rain with Lacey Chabert. She played Zooey Hernandez Frumpkis for 26 episodes of Bravo's first scripted series, Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, and Lydia Spring in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, alongside Elijah Wood.[4] In 2018, she was cast as Bethany Forrest in the independent film The Mental State.[5]

Initially cast as a guest star for the pilot episode,[6][7] she was promoted to a series regular role as Tacy Cassidy[8] in the TV adaptation of the Megan Abbott novel Dare Me.,[9] which premiered December 29, 2019.[10]

In addition to acting, Thornton is an avid writer. When she was in the eleventh grade, her class was encouraged to enter their short stories into a writing competition with publication as the prize. Her short story "Five Rings" was selected and appears in The Lost Door. When she moved to LA at 18, she entered her work into a poetry reading session. "His Moon" was selected for publication by Ariel's Dream Literary Journal.

Filmography

Television and film roles
Year Title Role Notes
2013 Let it Snow Angeline Bennett Television film
2014 The Color of Rain Charlotte Spehn Television film
2014 The 100 Tris Episode: "The Calm"
2015–2018 Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce Zoey Hernandez Frumpkis Recurring role, 26 episodes
2016 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Lydia Spring Recurring role, 7 episodes
2017 Supergirl Young Girl Episode: "Reign"
2019–2020 Dare Me Tacy Cassidy Main role
2021 Nancy Drew Birdie Episode: "The Beacon of Moonstone Island"
2021 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Victoria Warshofsky Episode: "Nightmares in Drill City"
2022 Run and Gun Tara Film
2022 Caught in His Web Emma Television film[11]
2023 The Rookie Dara Tesca Episode: "S.T.R"
2023 Quantum Leap Carrie Baker Episode: "Closure Encounters"
2023 The Mental State Bethany Forrest Film
2023 Girl Gone Bad Samantha Main Role
2023 Creepshow Shelby Episode: "Baby Teeth"

References

  1. ^ a b "Cheerleading isn't cheery in intense "Dare Me"". Mike Hughes on TV. 2019-12-27. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  2. ^ "Get Acquainted With Dirk Gently's Alison Thornton - 604 Now". 604 Now. 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  3. ^ Sumerel, Ashley (November 7, 2016). "Alison Thornton Talks 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' [Exclusive Interview]". Telltaletv.
  4. ^ "Pop-Culturalist Chats with Alison Thornton". Pop-Culturalist.com. 2016-12-09. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  5. ^ "William R. Moses Joins Indie Drama 'The Mental State'". The Hollywood Reporter. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  6. ^ Petski, Denise (2018-08-14). "'Dare Me': Rob Heaps, Zach Roerig & Paul Fitzgerald Among Eight Cast In USA Pilot". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  7. ^ Otterson, Joe (2019-01-28). "USA Network Orders Drama Based on High School Cheerleading Novel 'Dare Me'". Variety. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  8. ^ Gomes, Anoush (December 29, 2019). "'Dare me' star Alison Thornton on the important social themes at work in USA Network's new mystery-thriller". Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  9. ^ "Cast & Info | Dare Me". USA Network. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  10. ^ Priya, Kanu (2019-12-28). "Dare Me USA Network: Season 1 Release Date, Cast, Episodes". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  11. ^ "‘Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez’ Greenlit at Lifetime (TV News Roundup)" by Selome Hailu at variety.com