Ashleigh Murray

Ashleigh Murray's training in acting and singing helped her land her breakout role as Josie McCoy, leader of Josie and the Pussycats, in the teen drama "Riverdale" (The CW, 2017-). Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Murray moved with her family to Oakland, California, where she studied a wide variety of musical and dance forms. Upon graduating high school, she continued to pursue performing at the New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts. After graduating in 2009, she began working television, logging minor roles on "The Following" (Fox, 2013-15) and "Younger" (TV Land, 2015-) before landing her breakout role as Josie McCoy on "Riverdale." The series, which put a dramatic spin on the venerable Archie Comics cast of characters, depicted Josie McCoy - better known to comic book cartoon fans as the singer heroine of "Josie and the Pussycats" (CBS, 1970-71) - as an ambitious African-American teen fronting a popular rock band. That same year, she took the lead in a Netflix original comedy, "Deirdre & Laney Rob a Train" (2017), a comedy feature about two teenagers who begin robbing trains to support their family.