Simone Ashley
Ashley at the 2022 Dream It Fest London
Born
Simone Ashwini Pillai

(1995-03-30) 30 March 1995
Camberley, Surrey, England
OccupationActress
Years active2016–present[1]

Simone Ashwini Pillai (born 30 March 1995),[2][3] known professionally as Simone Ashley, is a British actress. She is known for her roles in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton (2022–present) and comedy-drama Sex Education (2019–2023).

Early life

Born Simone Ashwini Pillai to Indian Tamil parents Latha and Gunasekharan Pillai, Ashley is from Camberley, Surrey and has an older brother, Sean Pillai.[4][5] Ashley has spoken about how despite growing up in a household of academics, she was always drawn more towards the creative fields.[6] Her parents were hesitant about her inclination to the arts. "My parents were quite protective over me", she told Glamour. "They're first generation. They came from India to this country, so they didn't really have a life where they could choose to be whatever they wanted."[4] Ashley grew up singing classical music, opera, and playing the piano.[7]

Ashley's family later moved to Beaconsfield, where she attended Beaconsfield High School and then Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead for sixth form.[8][6] She left school early at sixteen, describing herself as "very stubborn"[9] and "wishing my life away".[10] She spent some of her teen years in Ojai, California where she has relatives. She signed with a modeling agency and began auditioning when she was 18.[11] She then studied acting at Arts Educational School (ArtsEd) in West London.[2][12]

Career

Early work (2016–2021)

Ashley's first acting role was in two episodes of the CBBC fantasy teen drama Wolfblood as Zuhra. This was followed by appearances in the thriller series Guilt (2016) and the ITV crime drama Broadchurch (2017).[13] She made her feature film debut in 2018 with a small role in Boogie Man as Aarti, and a more prominent role in Kill Ben Lyk as one of the many characters named Ben Lyk.[14]

From 2019 to 2021, Ashley played the recurring character Olivia Hanan in the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education. She also appeared in the ITV psychological thriller miniseries The Sister as Elise Fox in 2020.[15]

Breakthrough

Ashley was named one of Variety's 2021 Brits to Watch.[7] Having auditioned in 2020, it was announced in February 2021 that Ashley would star as leading lady Kate Sharma in the second series of the Shondaland-produced Netflix romance period drama Bridgerton, based on the second novel in Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series, The Viscount Who Loved Me.[16] The series was released in March 2022. She is set to reprise her role for the third series.[17]

In 2022, Ashley featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in European entertainment,[18] the Time 100 Next,[19] and The Hollywood Reporter's Great British and Irish Film and TV Breakouts.[20] She appeared on the cover of British Vogue's December 2022 issue.[10] She also played Indira, a sister of Ariel in the 2023 live-action film adaptation of Disney's The Little Mermaid.[9]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2018 Boogie Man Aarti
2018 Kill Ben Lyk Girl Ben Lyk
2018 Sparrow Taylor Short film
2019 Detective Pikachu Girlfriend
2023 The Little Mermaid Indira [9]
2024 10 Lives Rose Voice role
TBA This Tempting Madness Mia [21]

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2016 Wolfblood Zuhra 2 episodes
2016 Guilt Amanda Episode: "A Simple Plan"
2017 Broadchurch Dana 2 episodes
2017 Strike Alicia Episode: "The Cuckoo's Calling: Part 3"
2017 L'ispettore Coliandro Veena Episode: "Mortal Club"
2018 Doctors Sofia Johal Episode: "Any Moment"
2019 Casualty Shai Anderson 1 episode
2019 A Working Mom's Nightmare Aisha Television film
2019–2021 Sex Education Olivia Hanan 15 episodes [6]
2020 The Sister Elise Fox Miniseries; 3 episodes [15]
2022–present Bridgerton Kathani "Kate" Sharma/Bridgerton Main role (season 2 and 3) [17]

Music videos

Song Year Artist Notes
"Love Letter" 2022 ODESZA feat. The Knocks

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2022 IMDb Starmeter Award Breakout Star Bridgerton Won [22]
Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards Best Actress in a Streaming Series, Drama Nominated
National Television Awards Best Drama Performance Longlisted [23]
Asian Achievers Awards Arts and Culture Pending
TV Choice Awards Best Actress Bridgerton Nominated

References

  1. ↑ Trevelyan, Anna (19 April 2022). "Simone Ashley Shines Bright in 'Bridgerton'". ELLE. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  2. 1 2 Wahi, Sukriti (16 February 2021). "Who Is Simone Ashley? Meet Bridgerton's New Leading Lady". Elle Australia. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  3. ↑ Tisdale, Jerrica (25 February 2021). "Simone Ashley: 7 Cool Things To Know About The Bridgerton Season 2 Actress". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 Glass, Katie (9 March 2022). "Bridgerton's Simone Ashley on corsets, combatting sexism and the power of representation". Glamour UK. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  5. ↑ Menon, Maya (2 March 2022). "Meet Simone Ashley: the British-Indian breakout star and new leading lady of 'Bridgerton'". Vogue Singapore. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 "Exclusive Q&A with Simone Ashley of "Sex Education" (Netflix)". Veylex. 2 July 2019. Archived from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Variety's 10 Brits to Watch for 2021: A Celebration of Talent". Variety. 24 November 2021. Archived from the original on 24 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  8. ↑ Simpson, Richard (27 February 2021). "Sex Education star set to shake up Bridgerton in steamy new series". Mirror. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 Russell, Scarlett (25 March 2022). "Bridgerton's Simone Ashley: 'All the fireworks are still to come'". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.(subscription required)
  10. 1 2 "Simone Ashley: "I Don't Want To Be Put In A Certain Box. I Want To Be In The Driver's Seat"". British Vogue. 2 November 2022. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  11. ↑ "Ep 42: Simone Ashley". Reign with Josh Smith (Podcast). 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  12. ↑ Hanrahan, Laura (18 February 2021). "Everything You Need To Know About 'Bridgerton' Season 2 Star Simone Ashley". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  13. ↑ Trevelyan, Anna (19 April 2022). "Simone Ashley Shines Bright in 'Bridgerton'". ELLE. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  14. ↑ Fowler, Sara (25 June 2019). "Britain's Simone Ashley stars in award-winning film 'Kill Ben Lyk'". Medium. Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  15. 1 2 Sanyal, Pathikrit (20 January 2020). "'The Sister' on Hulu: Meet Simone Ashley, Bertie Carvel, Russell Tovey and rest of the cast of British psychological thriller". MEAWW. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  16. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (15 February 2021). "'Bridgerton': Simone Ashley Lands Female Lead In Season 2 Of Netflix Hit From Shondaland". Deadline. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  17. 1 2 Cordero, Rosy (30 March 2022). "'Bridgerton' Star Simone Ashley Confirms Season 3 Return "Kate & Anthony Are Just Getting Started"With the new leads Penelope and Colin". Deadline. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  18. ↑ Freeman, Abigail (3 May 2022). "From Måneskin To Simone Ashley: Meet The 30 Under 30 In European Entertainment 2022". Forbes. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  19. ↑ Singh, Lily (28 September 2022). "Simone Ashley Is in the Time 100 NEXT List". Time. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  20. ↑ Ritman, Alex (27 December 2022). "The Great British and Irish Film and TV Breakouts of 2022". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  21. ↑ "'Bridgerton' Breakout Simone Ashley To Topline Indie Thriller 'This Tempting Madness' – First Look". Deadline. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  22. ↑ Oganesyan, Natalie. "'Bridgerton' Star Simone Ashley Receives IMDb Breakout Starmeter Award (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  23. ↑ Morris, Lauren (24 May 2022). "NTA 2022 longlist revealed as David Tennant and Sex Education nominated". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
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