Aya Cash (born July 13, 1982) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Gretchen Cutler in the FX/FXX dark comedy series You're the Worst (2014–2019), as Clara Vought (née Klara Risinger) / Liberty / Stormfront in the Amazon Prime Video superhero series The Boys. She made her Broadway debut in 2026 in Giant, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
Cash was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy for You're the Worst. Cash has also appeared in numerous films, including The Oranges (2011), Sleepwalk with Me (2012), Begin Again (2013), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Mary Goes Round (2017), Game Over, Man! (2018), and Scare Me (2020).
Early life Cash was born in San Francisco, California, on July 13, 1982, to poet and novelist Kim Addonizio and Buddhist teacher Eugene Cash. On her mother's side, she is the granddaughter of tennis champion Pauline Betz and sports writer Bob Addie. Her father's family is Jewish, while her mother is Catholic. Cash has described herself as Jewish, and explained that their surname "was originally something like 'CH-irsch'."
Cash is an alumna of the San Francisco School of the Arts. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, in partnership with the Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program. She then moved to New York City, where she began her acting career. For years, she struggled financially and worked as a full-time waitress to make ends meet.
Career Television Cash’s television appearances include Brotherhood, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Mercy, and The Newsroom. Cash was also a series regular in the 2011 Fox comedy Traffic Light, which ran for one season. From 2014 to 2019, she starred in the FX Network series You're the Worst as Gretchen Cutler. She received critical acclaim for her performance, with the website The A.V. Club calling her acting in the second season "the best TV performance of 2015".
In 2019, she was cast as neo-Nazi Clara Vought (née Klara Risinger) / Liberty / Stormfront in the second season of the Prime Video superhero dark comedy-drama series The Boys. The second season premiered in September 2020.
In 2020, Cash was cast as local newspaper reporter Cheryl Peterson in a pilot for a Fox sitcom titled This Country. The title was later changed to Welcome to Flatch, which premiered in 2022.
In 2027, she will reprise her role as Clara Vought (née Klara Risinger) / Liberty / Stormfront in the prequel series Vought Rising.
Film Cash's film credits include The Oranges, Winter of Frozen Dreams, Off Jackson Avenue, Begin Again, The Bits In Between, Game Over, Man!, The Happy House, and The Wolf of Wall Street, in which she had a small role as Janet, Jordan Belfort's assistant.
Theatre Additionally, Cash has appeared on Off-Broadway. In 2014, she starred in the world premiere of Zoe Kazan's play Trudy And Max In Love. In 2025, she appeared in London's West End as Jessie Stone, in Mark Rosenblatt's play Giant, later reprising the role on Broadway in 2026 at the Music Box Theatre.
Personal life Cash met writer and producer Josh Alexander when she was his waitress. They dated for seven years before marrying in 2012. They reside together in New York City.
Cash was raised Jewish, but no longer practices the religion, stating, "my mother is Catholic, my father is Jewish, but I was raised Jewish in a very not strict temple [...] then I chose, after my Bat Mitzvah, not to continue." Although she also mentioned that she has participated in Jewish holidays over the years, but not in many of them in recent years.
Cash said that she has a hawk tattooed on her back because she was told that Aya means "hawk" in Hebrew. However, when she visited Israel she was told that "Aya" () is an archaic word for "hawk" (though it is, in fact, the Modern Hebrew word for "honey buzzard", a different bird of prey).
Cash is a celebrity ambassador for INARA, an NGO that helps war-wounded refugee children from Syria get medical help.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2008 Off Jackson Avenue Olga Deception Secretary #2 2009 Winter of Frozen Dreams Prostitute The Bits in Between Suzy 2011 The Oranges Maya 2012 Sleepwalk with Me Hannah 2013 The Happy House Wendy Begin Again Jenny The Wolf of Wall Street Janet 2014 Loitering with Intent Jesse 2016 10 Crosby Aya Short film All Exchanges Final Dom Short film 2017 Village People Barbara Mary Goes Round Mary 2018 Brand New Old Love Hannah Becker Game Over, Man! Cassie Social Animals Jane 2020 Scare Me Fanny 2021 We Broke Up Lori 2023 The Young Wife Rose 2024 The Sacrifice Carly Short film 2026 Kill Me Alice The Brink of War Cleo Slay Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes 2006 Law & Order Janine Lesko Episode: "Kingmaker" 2006 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Lori Episode: "Weeping Willow" 2007 Brotherhood Martha Danners Episode: "Shelter from the Storm 1:1-2" 2007 Spellbound Chrissy Unaired CW pilot 2009 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Katrina Lychkoff Episode: "Hothouse" 2010 Mercy Bliss Edlestein Episode: "Too Much Attitude and Not Enough Underwear" 2010 Strange Brew Lizzy Unaired FOX pilot 2011 Traffic Light Callie Main role; 13 episodes 2012 Friday Night Dinner Lizzy Unaired NBC pilot 2012 A Gifted Man Trish Sulloway Episode: "In Case of Heart Failure" 2013 The Newsroom Shelly Wexler 3 episodes 2013 We Are Men Claire 5 episodes 2014–2019 You're the Worst Gretchen Cutler Lead role; 62 episodes 2015 Modern Family Vanessa Episode: "Rash Decisions" 2015 The Good Wife Amber Audrey Episode: "Don't Fail" 2015 Sirens Cindy Episode: "Let Pythons be Pythons" 2015 The Walker Unknown 2 episodes 2016 American Dad! Jody the Waitress (voice) Episode: "The Unincludeds" 2016–2019 Easy Sherri 4 episodes 2019 Fosse/Verdon Joan Simon Miniseries 2019 Will & Grace Olivia Walker Episode: "The Scales of Justice" 2020–2022; 2026 The Boys Clara Vought (née Klara Risinger) / Liberty / Stormfront Main role (season 2), guest (seasons 3, 5); 11 episodes 2021 Family Guy (voice) Episode: "Peterschmidt Manor" 2022–2023 Welcome to Flatch Cheryl Peterson Main cast; 27 episodes 2022 Robot Chicken Queen Iduna / Dire Rita (voice) Episode: "May Cause Internal Diarrhea" 2022 The Girl from Plainville Katie Rayburn Miniseries 2022 The First Lady Shirley Liebowitz 2 episodes 2024 The Franchise Anita Main role 2027 Vought Rising Clara Vought (née Klara Risinger) / Liberty / Stormfront Main role; also executive producer
Theatre Year Title Role Venue2006The Pain and the Itch KalinaPlaywrights Horizons2008From Up HereLaurenManhattan Theatre Club2008Three ChangesSteffiPlaywrights Horizons2009OfficesLaura / Emma / SecretaryLinda Gross Theater2011The Other PlaceThe WomanMusic Box Theatre2011Happy HourPerformerPeter Norton Space 2014Trudy and Max in LoveTrudySouth Coast Repertory2017The Light YearsRuth / AdelinePlaywrights Horizons2018KingsLaurenThe Public Theater2023The Best We Could (A Family Tragedy)EllaManhattan Theatre Club2025GiantJessie StoneHarold Pinter Theatre2026Music Box Theatre
Awards and nominations Year Association Category Work Result 2016 Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Actress in a Comedy Series You're the Worst TCA Awards Individual Achievement in Comedy 2021 Critics' Choice Super Awards Best Actress in a Superhero Series The Boys MTV Movie & TV Awards Best Villain Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards Best Actress in a Streaming Series, Drama 2026 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play Giant
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