Simone Ashley

Early life Born Simone Ashwini Pillai to Indian Tamil-speaking parents Latha and Gunasekharan Pillai, Ashley is from Camberley, Surrey, and has an older brother, Sean Pillai. Ashley has spoken about how despite growing up in a household of academics, she was always drawn more towards the creative fields.

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

Career Beginnings (2016–2020) 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). 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. 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.

Breakthrough, film work and music (2022–present)

Having auditioned in 2020, it was announced in February 2021 that Ashley would star as leading lady Kate Sharma, opposite Jonathan Bailey, 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. The series was released in March 2022. She reprised her role for the third series.

Ashley was named one of Variety' s 2021 Brits to Watch. the Time 100 Next, and The Hollywood Reporter'''s Great British and Irish Film and TV Breakouts. She appeared on the cover of British Vogue 's December 2022 and March 2024 issues, the latter as part of an ensemble of 40 women gathered to honor and celebrate Edward Enninful's tenure as editor. On 9 July 2024, Ashley was cast in the film F1, but her role was mostly cut. In 2025, Ashley had starring film roles in the romantic comedy Picture This on Amazon Prime as Pia and the psychological thriller This Tempting Madness as Mia. She became a L'Oréal Paris spokesperson in May 2024.

In February 2026, it was announced that Ashley had joined the cast of the A24 comedy film Peaked, directed by Molly Gordon. That same month, Ashley was also confirmed to star in Dominic Savage's upcoming musical romance Falling alongside Sam Claflin and Evan Peters.

She released her debut EP, Songs I Wrote In New York'' on April 10th, 2026.

Personal life From summer 2022 to January 2025, Ashley was in a relationship with former lawyer Constantin "Tino" Klein, the CEO of F.A.T. Ice Race, after meeting at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes Ref. 2018 Boogie Man Aarti Kill Ben Lyk Girl Ben Lyk Sparrow Taylor Short film 2019 Detective Pikachu Girlfriend 2023The Little Mermaid Indira The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland Alice (voice) 2025 Picture This Pia Also executive producer F1 Deleted scenes 2026 The Devil Wears Prada 2 Amari Mari TBA Filming

Television Year Title Role NotesRef. 2016 Wolfblood Zuhra 2 episodes Guilt Amanda Episode: "A Simple Plan" 2017 Broadchurch Dana 2 episodes "Eve & Paradise Lost" 2024 Bastille "So Good"2026Charlie Jeer feat. Simone Ashley

Awards and nominations