Ashley Johnson played Chrissy Seaver from 1990 to 1992.

Growing Pains star shares terrifying story of almost being kidnapped from the set

Ashley Johnson played Chrissy Seaver from 1990 to 1992.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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July 15, 2026 12:55 a.m. ET

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Ashley Johnson played Chrissy Seaver on ‘Growing Pains’. Credit:

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Anna Webber/Getty

- Former child star Ashley Johnson, who played Chrissy Seaver on *Growing Pains*, recalled sets being a “free-for-all” in the ‘90s.

- She recently described the time a man with a gun had grabbed her and started to run.

- Johnson said she was “clueless” about what happened, but was upset later.

Ashley Johnson’s memories of family sitcom *Growing Pains* aren’t all smiles, like they sing about in the theme song.

She recalled on a recent episode of the *Weird Kids* podcast that she was once almost kidnapped from set.

Johnson, now 42, was about 7 when she joined the cast. She remembered that, at the time, there the cast had little security, keeping them separate from the audience or metal detectors to flag visitors with weapons.

“It was just a free-for-all, and we were just walking very close,” she said. “You know, you’re within five feet of the audience when you’re walking in, waving, saying, ‘Hello. Thank you for coming. We’re excited for you guys to watch the show.’”

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She described a terrifying day she was walking with her mom, when a man attempted to kidnap her

“And then I just remember some guy hops out of the line,” Johnson said, “and he grabs me up and starts booking it.”

Eventually, though, security guards were able to take him down.

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“I just remember flying around in the air,” Johnson said, “I was clueless as to what was happening, but I was very upset, and they were talking to me about it after.”

The people around were worried about her, but she was thinking about something else.

“They were like, are you okay? Are you okay?” Johnson noted. “And I just said, ‘I just think I’m gonna be in trouble.’ And they were like, ‘Well, what are you gonna get in trouble for?’ And I was like, ‘He took one of my shoes.‘“

The ‘Growing Pains’ cast in 1990.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

The single slipper that she had on her foot was from the show’s wardrobe department.

Johnson said the man carried a gun, as someone had promised in a threatening letter that had been written to the production.

“This was gonna get a little dark, but, somebody had written in and said that, ‘I am coming to set and I am going to bring a gun and I am going to murder some of the cast,’” she said.

The actress has continued acting as an adult, working mostly on animated shows and video games, such as *Recess*, *The Last of Us*, and adventures in the *Ben 10* franchise. She was also a cast member of NBC’s live-action police procedural *Blindspot* on its five-season run between 2015 and 2020.

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