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.