Now that season 2 of Bridgerton has landed, viewers can barely contain their excitement as they’re finally introduced to new additions to the cast, including Simone Ashley as Kate Sharma.
In the new episodes of the Netflix series, Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey), the eldest sibling in his family, is on the search for a wife to make his Viscountess, with new debutante Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) catching his eye.
Based on the books by Julia Quinn, the second instalment of the show will see Kate try to get in the way of a possible engagement, as she believes her sister deserves to find a true love match.
From the minute viewers saw Simone in character as Kate, both in first look pictures and the trailer, many were immediately sold by her portrayal of the character, who is a fan-favourite in the novels.
Some may have realised that they have seen her in other TV shows and films before.
So what has the 26-year-old previously starred in?
Where have you seen Simone Ashley before?
Prior ot Bridgerton, Simone is likely best-known for her performance in Sex Education, in which she played Olivia, a member of a school clique known as Untouchables.
The Untouchables – which also included Ruby (Mimi Keene) and Anwar (Chaneil Kular), as well as Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood) before she left the group – were regarded as extremely popular, often using their social standing to look down on others.
In the first season of the show, it was discovered that Olivia shared a compromising photo of her friend Ruby around school, as a form of revenge for the mocking she endured.
However, the pair made up after Olivia stood up for Ruby, who endured ridicule from her fellow students over the picture leak.
In 2019, Simone appeared in the live-action Pokémon film Detective Pikachu, which starred Ryan Reynolds as the titular character, along with Justice Smith as Tim Goodman, a former aspiring Pokémon trainer.
A year before, she starred in comedy thriller Kill Ben Lyk, a film about a YouTuber who discovers that people who share his name are being assassinated.
Simone played the role of Girl Ben Lyke, with the film being nominated for best thriller at the Nightmares Film Festival and winning the best British feature award at the London Independent Film Awards.
Her other performances have included appearing in Broadchurch, Strike, Doctors, The Sister and Casualty.
Having grown up in Camberley, Surrey, Simone attended Redroofs Theatre School for sixth form, before training as an actor at Arts Educational School in London.
Bridgerton is available to watch on Netflix.
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