Simone Ashley played Kate Bridgerton in season two of Bridgerton.
Biography[]
Ashley was born the second child to Indian Tamil parents Latha Pillai and Gunasekharan Pillai. She has spoken at length regarding her academic upbringing that repeatedly saw creative desires which, although bringing about hesitancy in her parents, later saw their support. This was elaborated upon in an interview with Glamour Magazine: "My parents were quite protective over me. 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." Ashley spent a number of years throughout her childhood with relatives in Los Angeles, California. She later moved to Beaconsfield whilst attending Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead for sixth form and, following this, went on to train in acting at Arts Education School in West London.
The first acting role Ashley received was in two episodes of fantasy teen drama Wolfblood as Zuhra. This was quickly followed by appearances in thriller series Guilt and crime drama Broadchurch. In 2019, she began playing Olivia Hanan, a member of Ruby Matthews' clique the Untouchables, in the comedy-drama Sex Education. This role was reprised until the end of season three, at which time she began auditioning for Bridgerton.
In 2021, it was announced that Ashley would portray Kathani "Kate" Sharma, an adaptation of Kate Sheffield from the second novel, The Viscount Who Loved Me, and main love interest of the eldest son, Anthony Bridgerton. Ashley found much praise for her portrayal and is set to reprise her role for the following seasons.
In the months since her debut, Ashley has found further success with casting in an undisclosed role in the live-action film adaptation of The Little Mermaid (2023).
Career[]
Filmography[]
- Bulldog (short) (????)
- The Little Mermaid (2023)
- A Working Mom's Nightmare (2019)
- Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)
- Sparrow (short) (2018)
- Kill Ben Lyk (2018)
- Boogie Man (2018)
Television[]
- Bridgerton (2022)
- Sex Education (2019-2021)
- The Sister (mini-series) (2020)
- Casualty (2019)
- Doctors (2018)
- Inspector Coliandro (2017)
- C.B. Strike (2017)
- Broadchurch (2017)
- Guilt (2016)
- Wolfblood (2016)
Notes and Trivia[]
- The horse she rides in the show is a Spanish bay horse named Nirvana.
