LIKE A DIAMOND SIMONE

SIMONE ASHLEY SHINES BRIGHT AS THE NEWEST BELLE OF BRIDGERTON.

- A.N.DEVERS

Simone Ashley is waiting for me, perched serenely near the window of a Greek grocery shop just off the main drag of London’s Broadway Market. I’m not late, so that makes her early. Dressed in athleisure and tennies, she greets me with a relaxed hug like we’re old pals—surprising, since hugging strangers is not particularly English. I melt awkwardly into it like the American ex-pat I am, thawing out after having avoided physical contact with other people for two years during the pandemic. It all makes more sense when she tells me that, despite being British, she’s a California girl at heart, having moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to pursue acting, which kicked offa decade of living between L.A. and London. “I love the ocean so much,” she says, pulling out her phone to show me a picture of her cocker spaniel frolicking on the California coast.

By now, several million Netflix subscribers have been introduced to Ashley, who stars as Kate Sharma in the massively anticipated second season of Bridgerton, but when we meet, the premiere is still a month away, and the 27-year-old’s anonymity is somewhat intact. She’s summoned me to this particular locale—a bustling street market where you can order fresh oysters on the sidewalk and idle away the day from stall to stall—because it’s where everything started coming together for her. She spent her early twenties here, living with friends, going on dates, and trying to make ends meet as a young actress. “I got