Meet Simone Ashley

Before her role as Kate Sharma in Shonda Rhimes’ Bridgerton(2021), Simone Ashley had us cackling in Netflix’s hit comedy-drama, Sex Education(2021) as the vein wannabe cool girl, Olivia Hanan. Ashley is a British-Indian actress hailing from the town of Camberley, England born to Indian Tamil parents. She’s always had an eye for performing arts despite her family background and household leaning more towards academics. 

In youth Ashley maintained consistency in opera and piano training, eventually attending The London Arts Education School for acting. She went on to land smaller roles like that of Aarti in the 2018 film, Boogie Man, even landing an extra role in the infamous Straight Outta Compton(2015)! Ashley takes on a variety of roles that either play into molded character archetypes or can range into complicated central protagonists with genuine character arcs that enthrall, like that of her portrayal of Kate Sharma. 

Although having few films, Simone Ashley holds a significant platform from her multitude of stunning TV performances. She slated parts in the first season of the smashing crime drama, Broadchurch(2017) starring David Tennant. Additionally, her place as Elise Fox in the thrilling TV miniseries, The Sister(2020) has circulated much buzz about who this standout newcomer is! 

Ashley has garnered much attention for being a positive reflection of true diversity in the industry being a darker-skinned actress of Indian descent, going against the grain of color toning characters to reflect white-centric/ lighter-skinned characters and narratives. 

Her beauty radiates with each role she encapsulates and we can’t wait to see her impressive contributions to the New Age Hollywood scene! Her upcoming works include a place in the upcoming film, The Crazy and The Good.

Dive deep into Simone Ashley’s recent exclusive with Elle mag, here!