The Struggles Ashley Greene Faced Before Her Hallmark Channel Debut

Few have experienced the sensation of overnight fame quite like "Twilight" star Ashley Greene. A Jacksonville, Florida native, Greene set out for Hollywood at age 17 with only her luggage and gumption. Waiting tables at the dawn of her career, Greene made her feature film debut in Michael Douglas' "King of California" in 2007 — portraying "McDonald's customer." By 2008, thanks to her role as fan-fave vampire Alice Cullen, Greene became an international superstar. Her presence in all five "Twilight" films catapulted her onto Hollywood's most in-demand shortlist. Steadily expanding her resume in diverse directions, Greene has since starred in films opposite Jennifer Garner, Bruce Willis, Miley Cyrus, and Sebastian Stan (in "The Apparition," for which she received top billing). She has also since starred in two consecutive Hallmark Channel films — 2019's "Christmas on My Mind" and 2020's "A Little Christmas Charm."

Greene's sudden superstardom, however, introduced its own set of struggles. Greene has always been candid about the actual realities of fame, and in September 2023, she revealed, in unprecedented depth, the mental wellness issues plaguing her since her meteoric rise in 2008. That month, with the self-help app Aura, Greene launched a video series entitled "The Keys to Rediscovering Your Mental Wellness with Ashley Greene," which delved into topics like self-esteem issues and balancing work with motherhood. With Greene hoping to relate to and inspire others on their wellness journeys, let's take a look at some documented struggles on her road from "Twilight" to Hallmark.

Fame might make you popular, but it doesn't always make for lasting friendships. That certainly was Ashley Greene's experience by the time of the final "Twilight" film's release. In a November 2012 Marie Claire profile, Greene lamented the disruption of personal relationships after the vampire blockbusters made her a household name. "It was a hard adjustment going from zero to 100 in a day. But it was also hard to talk to [friends], because you don't want to be a jerk," she confessed (via Page Six). Some within Greene's inner circle reportedly couldn't help but perceive her differently after her overnight fame. "After the movie came out, some people said, 'You changed.' And I said, 'I haven't changed, dude. Your opinion of me has changed because I am working on this film,'" she shared, reassuring that her parents let her know if fame had gone to her noggin.

Another unforeseen struggle for the "LOL" star was dating within her industry. Dubbing the experience of dating fellow actors as brief, Greene broke it down in the same 2012 Marie Claire interview. "You go on a couple of dates, and then someone ships off to do a movie," she explained. "It's not like you're going to fly out and see them, because it's not serious enough for that." 

However, dating and keeping old friends weren't the deepest issues Greene has had to face since her "Twilight" fame.

In September 2023, Ashley Greene publicly shared her struggles with mental health, specifically anxiety, for the first time. "It started with panic attacks," she told Us Weekly, recalling thinking she "was going to die" during her first episode, which occurred amid the first "Twilight" film's press tour in 2008. Initially opting for medication rather than talk therapy, Greene explained that whenever her problems started to appear, she would simply detach. "I was always working and that was where I was kind of happy," she said.

Over the years, Greene learned to confront her demons through a variety of coping mechanisms, as well as therapy. Routinely practicing breathwork and meditation, she also harnessed the power of leaning on her husband, director and entrepreneur Paul Khoury (whom she called a "huge part of my mental health journey"). "In the beginning, it was really pulling teeth for him to get me to communicate these things," Greene said of Khoury, whom she married in July 2018. While opening up was difficult for Greene at first, she revealed that years later, "It's gotten to a point [where] as soon as I start feeling ... these things bubble up ... I'm like, 'Hey, listen, I'm feeling very overwhelmed about this. These are the 90 things I have going on.'"

Sharing daughter Kingsley, born in September 2022, and a production company, Hummingway Productions, with Khoury, Greene gushed about her hubby's impact on her, saying, "He's kind of magical."