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 (2019–2021).
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 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).[1] 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.[13]
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.[14]
Breakthrough and film work (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.[15] The series was released in March 2022. She reprised her role for the third series.[16]
Ashley was named one of Variety's 2021 Brits to Watch.[7] In 2022, Ashley featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in European entertainment,[17] the Time 100 Next,[18] and The Hollywood Reporter's Great British and Irish Film and TV Breakouts.[19] 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.[10]
In March 2025, Simone starred as the lead actor in movie Picture This. She played Pia, older sister to Sonal, whose wedding is the side backdrop to the film.[22]
In March 2025, Ashley revealed that she was in the process of recording her debut album with producer Fraser T. Smith.[23]
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.[25][26][27]
Filmography
Key
†
Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released
