Ashley Boettcher is probably one of the few kids her age with a personal story about dentures.

The self-assured young actress from Aubrey has a starring role in the 20th Century Fox feature film Aliens in the Attic, set to open July 31, and she celebrated one of life’s milestones while making the movie.

“I lost my first tooth,” Ashley said. “I had to get dentures. Have you ever heard of a 7-year-old with dentures?”

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Aubrey resident Ashley Boettcher, right, and Ashley Tisdale take a break during the filming of Aliens in the Attic. The trailer for the comedy is running before screenings of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

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Ashley, who recently turned 8, said that lost teeth — and the temporary replacements that filled the gaps for filming — created some funny moments.

“I lost all four of my front teeth,” she said. “They made one big bottom denture and one big top one. Every time I lost one, they would have to work on it again.

“The running joke on the set was, ‘Where are Ashley’s dentures?’”

Temporary tooth replacements like those made for Ashley are usually called flippers in the United States, mother Renee Boettcher said, but filming required that she and her daughter spend 4 1/2 months on location in New Zealand.

“Down there, they call them dentures,” Renee Boettcher said.

Ashley plays the role of Hannah Pearson in the adventure-comedy, which is about kids on a family vacation who have to fight off an attack by aliens that are knee-high but have big ambitions. She shares the screen with stars Ashley Tisdale, Doris Roberts, Kevin Nealon, Andy Richter and Tim Meadows, as well as Robert Hoffman, Austin Butler, Carter Jenkins, Henri Young, Regan Young and Gillian Vigman.

Renee Boettcher said her daughter landed the part after auditioning several times. She taped some auditions that were mailed in, then Fox flew her to Los Angeles for more auditions and screen tests. The entire process took more than eight months.

Ashley began to show an interest in performing and a talent for communicating at an early age, Boettcher said, and she started dance lessons at age 2. Competitions followed, and at the age of 3 she had her first commercial audition.

“She has been a performer from the beginning, and people are drawn to her,” Boettcher said.

When she was 4, Ashley began taking formal acting lessons, and she has appeared in several commercials. She has received numerous awards for her work, Boettcher said.

Ashley has appeared in the television shows Prison Break and Las Vegas.

The audition process for Aliens in the Attic was a long one, but Ashley didn’t hesitate when asked if she had been confident about getting the role.

“Just like any job, if it’s God’s will it will happen,” she said.

She said she enjoyed the entire process of making the movie, but what did she like the most?

“There were a lot of good things,” she said. “If I had to choose one, it would be hanging out with the cast and crew.”

Ashley said she enjoyed working with the “other” Ashley — Tisdale — while making the movie. Tisdale became a breakout star, along with Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, in Disney’s successful High School Musical franchise. Tisdale played the role of drama queen Sharpay Evans.

“Yeah, I enjoyed working with her,” Ashley Boettcher said of Tisdale. “She is a very sweet person.”

Filming was filled with fun times, Ashley said, but she especially enjoyed making an “upside-down” scene and working with a big, green, plush alien.

When not acting, Ashley said, she enjoys dancing, singing, playing the piano, riding her bike and playing games with her dad.

For more information, visit www.aliensintheatticmovie.com.