The sexy Netflix hit Bridgerton is back with new leading lady Simone Ashley, who says all the fireworks are ‘yet to come.’
@ScarRoseRussell meets the Surrey girl starring in Netflix’s hottest series thetimes.co.uk/article/simone…
@ScarRoseRussell meets the Surrey girl starring in Netflix’s hottest series thetimes.co.uk/article/simone…
Bridgerton, Netflix’s romantic series about young people looking for love and falling in lust in 1800s London, was released on Christmas Day 2020 and instantly became a cultural phenomenon: 82 million households lapped it up in the first four weeks
Less than a month after it premiered, Netflix announced that there would be a second series and Simone Ashley was promptly called to audition. Two weeks later she had the part. “I hadn’t even watched it,” she admits 
“The whole of 2021 for me was Bridgerton,” she says.
“Living and breathing Bridgerton: 4am pick-ups, wrap at 6 or 7pm, get home, have dinner, learn my lines for the next day, go to bed. It happened so quickly and was so intense, I didn’t really take it all in until recently”
“Living and breathing Bridgerton: 4am pick-ups, wrap at 6 or 7pm, get home, have dinner, learn my lines for the next day, go to bed. It happened so quickly and was so intense, I didn’t really take it all in until recently”
Ashley, 26, was born in Surrey and is the first in her family of academics to go into showbusiness.
🗣️“I was very stubborn and focused on being an actress,” she says. “I had a childlike imagination and always carried with me that anything is possible if you put your mind to it”
🗣️“I was very stubborn and focused on being an actress,” she says. “I had a childlike imagination and always carried with me that anything is possible if you put your mind to it”
Each series of Bridgerton focuses on a different family member.
Sex made up a hefty portion of the first series — the first time we met Anthony he was having sex up against a tree, bare bottom on show thetimes.co.uk/article/bridge…
Sex made up a hefty portion of the first series — the first time we met Anthony he was having sex up against a tree, bare bottom on show thetimes.co.uk/article/bridge…
Having watched the first six episodes of the new eight-part series — spoiler alert — there’s not much sex, but Ashley confirms that “all the fireworks are still to come” thetimes.co.uk/article/luke-t…
Another reason the show was so popular was its racially diverse cast, which, for a period drama, felt fresh, exciting and long overdue.
Indeed it was Chris Van Dusen, the show’s creator, who decided to turn the book’s Sheffield family into the Sharma family from India
Indeed it was Chris Van Dusen, the show’s creator, who decided to turn the book’s Sheffield family into the Sharma family from India
How does Ashley feel about becoming a poster girl for south Asian actresses?
🗣️“I am an Indian girl, so it feels as authentic as it can get. I’d like to think doors are opening for Indian actresses and I’d like to think that I’m an example of that”
🗣️“I am an Indian girl, so it feels as authentic as it can get. I’d like to think doors are opening for Indian actresses and I’d like to think that I’m an example of that”
The fashion world has also taken note of Ashley. She sat front row at Valentino’s recent show, has been dressed by Chanel and Prada, and Jonathan Anderson of Loewe is a fan (“He loves Bridgerton!”) It is something she takes in her stride
🗣️“I think fashion feels a lot more inclusive and accepting now,” she says. “I walk into the room and can find common ground with lots of different women from all over the world. It’s nice to not feel like the odd one out”
Read more from Bridgerton’s latest star👇thetimes.co.uk/article/simone…
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