Simone Ashley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Simone Ashley
Ashley in 2022
Born	Simone Ashwini Pillai (1995-03-30) 30 March 1995 (age 30) Camberley, Surrey, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2016–present

Simone Ashwini Pillai (born March 30, 1995), known as Simone Ashley, is a British actress. She is famous for her roles in two popular Netflix shows: Bridgerton, a historical drama, and Sex Education, a comedy-drama.

Early Life

Simone Ashwini Pillai was born to Tamil parents, Latha and Gunasekharan Pillai. She grew up in Camberley, Surrey, England, and has an older brother named Sean. Even though her parents were academics, Simone was always interested in creative arts like acting.

Her parents were a bit worried about her choice to pursue acting. Simone explained to Glamour that her parents were protective. They were the first in their family to move from India to England, so they didn't have many choices about their careers. Simone grew up learning classical music, opera, and playing the piano.

Later, her family moved to Beaconsfield. Simone went to Beaconsfield High School and then Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead. She left school at 16, describing herself as very determined. She also spent some time in Ojai, California, where she has family. When she was 18, she signed with a modeling agency and started trying out for acting roles. She then studied acting at the Arts Educational School (ArtsEd) in West London.

Career Highlights

Starting Out (2016–2020)

Simone Ashley's first acting job was in two episodes of the CBBC fantasy show Wolfblood, where she played a character named Zuhra. After that, she appeared in the thriller series Guilt in 2016 and the crime drama Broadchurch in 2017.

In 2018, she made her first appearance in a feature film called Boogie Man. She also had a bigger role in Kill Ben Lyk. From 2019 to 2021, Simone played Olivia Hanan in the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education. She also appeared in the ITV thriller miniseries The Sister in 2020.

Becoming Well-Known (2022–Present)

In 2021, Variety magazine named Simone Ashley one of their "Brits to Watch." In February 2021, it was announced that she would play the main female role, Kate Sharma, in the second season of the Netflix historical drama Bridgerton. She starred alongside Jonathan Bailey. This season was based on the book The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn. The show came out in March 2022, and Simone returned for the third season as well.

In 2022, Simone was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for European entertainment. She was also on Time magazine's 100 Next list and The Hollywood Reporter's list of Great British and Irish Film and TV Breakouts. She appeared on the cover of British Vogue in December 2022 and March 2024.

In 2023, she played Indira, one of Ariel's sisters, in the live-action film version of Disney's The Little Mermaid. On July 9, 2024, Simone Ashley was cast in the upcoming Apple TV+ film F1, which is expected in 2025.

Personal Life

Since 2022, Simone Ashley has been in a relationship with Constantin "Tino" Klein. He is the CEO of F.A.T. Ice Race. They met at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2018	Boogie Man	Aarti
	Kill Ben Lyk	Girl Ben Lyk
	Sparrow	Taylor	Short film
2019	Detective Pikachu	Girlfriend
2023	The Little Mermaid	Indira
2024	10 Lives	Rose	Voice role
2024	The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland	Alice	Voice role
2025	F1	TBA	Post-production
TBA	This Tempting Madness	Mia	Post-production
	Picture This	Pia	Post-production; also executive producer

Television

Music Videos

Awards and Nominations

See Also

In Spanish: Simone Ashley para niños