As a young girl, Ashley Greene was raised in Jacksonville, Florida, where she lived a fairly average lifestyle. Greene told W Magazine that she was an active athlete in her childhood and frequently engaged in sports. In an interview with Health, Greene admitted to being a bit of a tomboy as a youngster. With an older brother and a horde of boy cousins, Greene grew up playing football and practicing martial arts. "My mom tried to put me into dance, and I was like, 'No thanks, Mom. I'm gonna go fight people,'" she said.
In adolescence, Greene worked hard in both school and work. On Ellen, Greene explained that she was able to convince her parents to let her transfer from a private school to a magnet high school for law and psychology. Her father's background in the Marines prepared her to develop discipline from an early age. Greene recalled an instance in which her family encouraged her to put more focus on her schoolwork: "I got a C once, and I was like, 'C is average.' And they were like, 'You're not average, and you're never gonna be average,'" (via Health).
As a teen, Greene worked several part-time jobs to exercise her burgeoning independence. Greene told Seventeen how her desire to buy a pair of $70 jeans led her to securing a job at a dry cleaner. Later, Greene became a phone operator. "I've worked literally everywhere in Jacksonville, FL," she joked.
