While discussing his role in Moonlight with Teen Vogue, Ashton opened up about how the Amazing Grace Conservatory, a non-profit which aims to empower at-risk youth through performing arts, instilled his love of acting. After struggling with addiction in his family growing up, Ashton enrolled in the program when he was 12. "It changed my life," he told the publication about the conservatory. "Yo, that — to be around artists and people who would accept my odd quirks — that made me into who I am."