Simone Ashley

Simone Ashwini Pillai (born 30 March 1995), known professionally as Simone Ashley, is a British actress. She is known for her breakout role in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton (2022–present) and Sex Education (2019–2021). Born Simone Ashwini Pillai to Indian Tamil parents Latha and Gunasekharan Pillai, Ashley is from Camberley, Surrey and has an older brother. Ashley has spoken about how despite growing up in a household of academics, she was always drawn more towards the creative fields. 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." Ashley grew up singing classical music, opera, and playing the piano. Ashley's family later moved to Beaconsfield where she attended Beaconsfield High School and later Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead for sixth form. She spent some of her teen years in California where she has relatives, and went on to train in acting at Arts Educational School in West London.