Simone Ashley

Simone Ashley kicked things off in the acting world with a couple episodes on Wolfblood, playing Zuhra. Not exactly a star-making role, but hey, everyone’s gotta start somewhere. She bounced from there to a spot on Guilt in 2016, which is one of those moody British thrillers, and then landed in Broadchurch the next year. Now, Broadchurch is a big deal—pretty much everyone in the UK has watched it—so that’s a nice notch on anyone’s belt. Her film debut came in 2018 with Boogie Man, where she played Aarti, though you probably wouldn’t blink and miss her. Fast-forward, she snagged a bigger part in Kill Ben Lyk, which is a weird, twisty crime movie where, for some reason, a bunch of people are all named Ben Lyk. Yeah, it’s confusing, but she stood out. The real game-changer, though? Sex Education on Netflix. She played Olivia Hanan from 2019 to 2021, and let’s be honest, that show is a cultural phenomenon. If you’ve watched it, you know her—she’s got that effortless cool factor. In 2020, she took a sharp left turn into psychological thriller with The Sister as Elise Fox, showing she’s not just a one-trick pony. And then came Bridgerton. In 2021, Netflix announced her as Kate, the season two lead. Opposite Jonathan Bailey, she basically stole the show—if you haven’t seen it, what are you even doing? Bridgerton’s second season dropped in March 2022 and blew up everywhere. Oh, and Forbes threw her on their 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2022, just to put a cherry on top.