The Louis Theroux Podcast - S7 EP7: Simone Ashley on kissing scenes with Jonathan Bailey, getting kicked out of drama school, and Bridgerton criticism

Episode Date: April 13, 2026

In this episode, Louis speaks with Bridgerton star Simone Ashley. Simone tells Louis about filming kissing scenes with Jonathan Bailey, getting kicked out of drama school, and how she responds to criticism about the show.     Warnings: Strong language and adult themes.     Links/Attachments:    The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33612209/     TV Show: ‘The Bear’ (2022-2026) - Hulu  https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/the-bear/umc.cmc.javg04xbn3eonbgfvnaqmodk     Kill Bill: Vol.1 (2003)  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266697/     The Sound of Music (1965)  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059742/     Guys and Dolls (1955)   https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048140/     Mary Poppins (1964)  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058331/     West Side Story (1961)   https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055614/     Evita (1996)   https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116250/     Song: ‘Edelweiss’ by Richard Rogers & sung by Julie Andrews (1965)  https://open.spotify.com/track/4S4Qn8O0ygeqdQLF6tfxWp     TV Show: ‘Bridgerton’ (2020 – present) - Netflix  https://www.netflix.com/watch/81044686?source=35     TV Show: ‘Sex Education’ (2019 – 2023) - Netflix   https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7767422/     Shakespeare in Love (1998)  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138097/     Interstellar (2014)  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/     Ocean’s Eleven (2001)  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240772/      Credits:  Producer: Millie Chu   Researchers: Maan al-Yasiri and Elly Young  Production Manager: Francesca Bassett   Music: Miguel D’Oliveira   Audio Mixer: Tom Guest  Video Mixer: Scott Edwards   Shownotes compiled by Elly Young  Executive Producer: Arron Fellows     ___    Open a Moneybox Cash ISA at https://moneybox.onelink.me/Cqlx/y3xncge  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to the final episode of this series of The Louis Theroux podcast. Today I'm joined by actress and Bridgeton superstar Simone Ashley. Bridgeton is of course the Netflix mega hit, the fourth season of which came out earlier this year, in which Simone plays Kate Sharma, the sharp-witted older sister of the diamond of the season. That will mean something to Bridgeton fans. Her love interest, Anthony Bridgeton, is played by Jonathan. Bailey, Johnny to his friends. We talk about that in the chat. And for me, this was an opportunity, not just to talk to a talented young actress, but also to dig deep into a series that, to be

honest with you, I'd never seen before. I'd seen little glimpses and was always a little baffled as a historian, if I may, by what seemed to be certain liberties it had taken with the historical record. It's a kind of multiracial take on aristocratic England of the early 18th century. We talk about that. It's kind of politically controversial in some ways, and in other ways, I think people love it for not, not being overly preoccupied with those themes. Simone's first big break was a recurring role in another of Netflix's big success stories, sex education. We don't talk about that. Sorry, there wasn't time.

Since Bridgeton, she starred in Disney's live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid and The Romantic Comedy, Picture This. We recorded this conversation in March this year at Spotify HQ. 2026 is due to be a big year for Simone. She released her debut EP Songs I Wrote in New York last week. And has started filming an A-24 comedy film called Peaked, directed by Molly Gordon, who's an actress. Actoress is my new word.

It covers all the bases. From TV Kitchen Drama series The Bear. She will also star as Miranda Priestley's new assistant in The Devil Wears Prada 2. That's Meryl Streep, which is in cinemas from the 1st of May. A quick warning, this conversation contains some strong language and adult themes. All that coming up after this. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. We do a lot of our shopping these days online.

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I can't deal with this. I'm going to stop doing it. And earn more with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash louis. That's Shopify.com. slash Louis, L-O-U-I-S. How's life?

Life's good, yeah. Good. Good. Good. Busy. Busy. You're okay to talk about Bridgeton for a second? Yeah, yeah. In case you didn't know, it's one of the biggest hits in the history of Netflix.

Apparently the three of the seasons rank in the top 10 most streamed shows on Netflix. Wow. I watched it for the first time in preparation for this interview. Oh, wow. Did you watch the whole second season? Yes. Wow. Thank you.

So I was aware as a 56, 55-year-old man, I'm not the demographic as such. Apparently 80% of viewers are women. Women, yeah. And probably on the younger side. But people who don't know, and everyone, most people probably do know this. It's kind of Jane Austen-esque, but it's not Jane Austen. It's set during the early 19th century in an alternative London Regency era, in which George III established racial equality

and granted aristocratic titles, I'm reading this, to people of colour due to the African heritage of his wife, Queen Charlotte. Yeah, that is a show that's about escapism and, you know, the first season came out during lockdown and people felt fed. It blew up the algorithm. Your romance was sort of the main storyline in season two.

It was with you and the character of law. Lord Bridgeton, played by Jonathan Bailey. And you make a great couple. Can I say that? I think a lot of people have said how good your chemistry is. Yeah. I mean, Johnny, I, you know, learnt so much from him from an acting point, obviously. Right, because he's a little older.

So he will have been doing stage stuff. Totally. Oh, yeah. True, Thespian. He's a veteran. 100%. So I learned so much from him. because we filmed during lockdown,

so we were together for like 11 months every day, pretty much. But I think he set a great example of, I guess, for a better word, the loyalty to the show. And, you know, it is a show about family and returning home and returning to the family and just, I think a lot of people follow that suit. I particularly learned a lot from that example. And, yeah, now when we go back, there is that environment of coming home and feeling like we're part of family.

I'm not sure if I follow. What's the alternative to that? Isn't that quite natural to feel the loyalty? Like what would it feel, what would it be like to not be loyal? Do you know what I mean? I can only comment on what me and Johnny have done, and that is we just really make sure that our schedules can just make it work.

Oh, I see. Coming back and, you know, I think he flew between like Toronto and London back and forth, he was filming Wicked. I thank God I've not been filming during the start of this year. I've done like eight cities and one month. So that would have been a bit nuts to figure out. But I would have done it. I would have scheduled it in.

Yeah. What struck me as well is, okay, I'm going to sound like such an old fart. So going through it, it was interesting to see how much delayed gratification there was. Slow burn. There's a slow burn. Yeah, totally. Spoiler alert. If you haven't got all the way through,

season two. Switch off now. I think it's like episode, is it six or seven, where you finally have the kiss. And basic bitch that I am, I'm thinking, well, they've got a lot of angles on that. Yeah. That must have taken a while.

Well, like the steady cam shots. Yeah, there's a steady cam spinning one way. There's a steady cam spinning the other way. There's an up above. That must be a whole morning. Isn't it? Yeah. Probably. Well, the first kiss is in the church.

Yeah, that's the one I'm talking about. Oh, yeah. That was, no, it wasn't a whole morning. But yeah, it was like, it was a shot. And we were filming, sorry to interrupt me. No, no, please. We were filming during COVID. Right. And we had to make no sense at all.

But I guess just for like, you know, to make production feel less anxious, we had to rinse with corsidil between. Right, corsodil. That used to be a sponsor of the podcast. Shut. No way. It's such a shame. They should come back.

That would have been a perfect grand synergy. But there's no way that that's going to do anything. Anyway. Was that supposed to be a COVID thing, really? It was a COVID thing. So we would rinse our mouths and then they'd be like, they say cut, you know, rinse our mouths, put the mask or visor back on and then go back in. Yeah.

So that was. So you're standing there with masks and then taking them off to smooch and then putting the masks back on? We were definitely, it was very regimented back then with the masks and the visors. I don't know if it was that regimented. I'm also watching it thinking, how passionate, because like nowadays people, I mean, this sounds weird.

Am I going to say this? Sometimes, like, if there's a kiss, like, you think, oh, are they going to French kiss, right? Right. And then is that in the script, or how do you decide, or would that feel anachronistic? Do you know what I mean? What does anachronistic mean?

It means, like, it would be not true to the time, A historical. Oh, they didn't do that in those days. Great point. I was told the lead up to that moment, ladies in that time weren't allowed to cross their legs or touch another man. So there were some scenes where I would touch his shoulder,

maybe to get his attention or something, and they'd say, you can't do that. So that was really frustrating. I think Johnny and I were so lucky enough that we both had that amazing working chemistry together and we adored the characters and their story so much and really wanted to tell their love story in the best way possible. It's like, you've talked about intimacy coordinators on here before.

I think it is important and I think... For a kiss, would you have one? I suppose you would, would you? I can't remember if we had it. Mapping it out. Just for a kiss. I think the great thing is though we worked together on that. You and Johnny?

Yeah. You know, understanding what it was. that we wanted to tell in that moment. For sure. Hell yeah. Talked a lot about Bridgeton kissing. It's great. We have actually.

Too longer than I expected. It's pretty so interesting. When you come onto that, because that was a big break for you, I think you've been in sex education, but you hadn't been the principal of a high profile series like that. Is that massively stressful?

It must be quite intimidating. I think it's, It's stressful in the sense, okay, there's a big workload ahead. I knew that we were basically going to be in rehearsals and filming for a year. I love it. I love doing what I do. And I felt just so happy to get the job, for one, and to be offered to do, embark something like that. Of course.

And I think I was also so naive to how big the show was that I wasn't that intimidated. Are you in the first season? No. So you were in at the deep end? The first season just came out And it was massive Did you know how big it was Yeah

In the sense I knew I could It was so visible And everyone was talking about it And I knew You know How big it was I guess I just didn't

I'd never really experience Anything like that So I Which was probably a good thing Because I just didn't Even after Bridgeton For a few months I just didn't really

I wasn't aware I didn't know Yeah So then season two of Bridgetton comes out And I think it's the biggest of all the seasons That's a great opinion Have you got a view on that? No, because I

I think every season shines in its own way You can't say that, but I can I think that's data-based It's based on something Haven't they counted the streams? You know what I'm talking about I'm sure that they have Would that be unseemly for you to agree with what I just said?

I think as a cast member As a team member, as a team As a team member As a family member As a human member As a human member The sisterhood of Bridgeton I really think

It was the best Yours was the best Is that where that was going? Everyone loved it You should watch season four Yeran and Luke What's wrong with season three? Season three is great as well

But season four's out now My one note for Bridgeton would be they used the word indeed too much. Oh, yeah? Have you noticed that? Now that you've said it, that lands. It's like, how do we make this sound like it was from the early 18th century? Well, it's actually early 19th century, isn't it?

It's regency. What if you say, indeed? Pass me the coffee, indeed. Oh, really? Oh, really, indeed? No, no. That's my writer's note. That's all right, isn't it?

That's said in the spirit of love. Do you have a note for them as well, in case they're listening to the writers? If any writers are watching, that is Louis's opinion. Indeed. Indeed. I will visit the Maudiste, indeed. You're right. There's going to be memes now, videos.

Indeed. They should be a drinking game, have a drink, every time they say indeed. Yeah, a drinking game. You wouldn't even last 20 minutes. Indeed. I know this, but just we were disagreeing about. The Ton. What is the Ton? The Ton is like the society.

It is, right? Yeah. It's not short for Bridgeton. That's just a coincidence. I think... I don't know. I think so. You don't know. You live there. I know. I know. I'm sure it's in the books somewhere as well. It's short for Bon Ton, apparently, which means like good tone or...

Wow, you knew the answer. You're a bit of a poker player. Well, it's no good me answering my... own questions. If only, I wouldn't need to have any guests. I just come on and speak to myself for an hour. Indeed. Basically, people love Bridgeton and then there's a few who don't. There's kind of questions around the whole, the way race is handled, right? Are you aware of this? because it projects a much happier version onto the past, right? There's people get along, there's no real racial prejudice in it.

There was a story in the New York Times from 2024, basically kind of giving the alternate view saying it's a magical, multiracial past. Have you thought about that at all? You wouldn't want that to give a false sense of actually how the past. was. You know, there's this alternate version where actually increasing, especially post-2020, like, oh, we need more accountability for colonialism, you know, and we need stately homes to have sections where they're like, actually it was the slave trade that made this possible. So I guess there's a tension there. I'm wondering, is that something you've spent any time

thinking about? About the show. Yeah, right, like the pros and cons of that kind of fantasy. Yeah, and I think it's totally valid. You raise it. It's definitely a comment. conversation a lot of people have around the show. I think to be specific about the show, this is a show that is about a society of characters that we meet that are incredibly nuanced and are portraying human emotion that we all experience, right? And one being love and desire. The big one being love. Love is the high water mark of living, as D.H. Lawrence said. It's just luxuriating in the intensity of that experience of young love and lust. Yeah. I mean,

I mean, I love talking about love. I think it's such a shared universal language. And, you know, to be part of a show that is driven by that subject is incredible. And I think this show, you know, that it's, it's colorful, it's fun, it's escapism. It is made to spark the imagination of the viewer of the possibility of love and family. And I think if you want to watch something that's more fictionally accurate, maybe it's just not the right genre. It's not about anything else, I don't think. Would you agree?

I think I would agree. Let me just see what the guy says who wrote the article. We can watch ourselves speak languages. We did not speak in rooms where we were unlikely to have been welcome. We are included, but our actual history is erased. It's valid to have that feeling and thought totally. I don't disagree with it. I guess what I'm saying is this show has.

has a specific purpose and perhaps to explore the purpose of something more historically accurate, there's something else that you must choose to watch. The one quote that stuck out was you've said, I don't want to play stereotypes. You just want to feel where the role comes first rather than something it seems to represent. Yeah, I mean, look, I'd love to do more culturally specific roles for sure. but it's not all I want to do I'm an everyday girl to a degree like I understand

my lifestyle's not fully relatable with what I do for a living but I want to make work that I can relate to things that are just more than my heritage so good writing a great director a great script great music producer

great storyline and urgency for something to be told like any actor would approach something can we talk about your upbringing and what you were talking about. I knew you're a garlanded, or certainly loved actor. I hadn't realized there was a musical background as well.

And also they've sent some music over which I enjoyed. Tell me about it. So yeah, I started singing when I was really young, like six, seven. I did like classical training, piano playing. And then I did musical theatre. And I thought musical theatre is what I wanted to pursue as a forever career and I learned very quickly that it wasn't what I wanted to do. And then I...

This is when you were how old? Late teens? Yeah, teens, yeah. Because you'd left school at 15? Did I read that? I left school. I left home really young. How old? 15. Did you go to boarding school? No. Where did you move to?

I was between L.A. and London for a long time. Really? Just living with family? Yeah, family friends. Sounds like there's a story there. Is there? There is a story. Are we going to go into it? I did try acting school.

I tried drama school. Right. I went to a school in West London. In Chiswick? Yeah. Yeah, you know the one. I only from reading the notes. Is it a famous one?

I mean, I've got it written down somewhere. I guess it is. You were living in Beaconsfield at this time, were you? I went to high school in Beaconsfield, yeah. And I was always back and forth between England and California. I have family there. Did you not get along with school? I hated school.

I really didn't like school. I had a really hard time at school. I went to an all-girls school, for one, which is just carnage. And I was so such a dreamer, and I wanted this life beyond high school and beyond the town that I grew up in. That being...

That being Camberley or Beckonsfield? Both. Both. Both quite nice places, I'm told. Really lovely. I did a little reading on them. Yeah, I was very privileged to grow up there. Camberley sounded nice since it's in Surrey.

Yeah. Beckonsfield's in Buckinghamshire. Yeah. It's a kind of... I mean, that was a stretch for us. Like, my parents really stretched to get us to Buckinghamshire. This is a random fact. In 2008, it was the most expensive town in Britain.

Yeah, so we could be true? We could not afford it. But the schools were top-notch, like really good grammar schools around there. My brother went to like a really great boys' grammar school. Your daughter was a pharmacist, your mum, an accountant. I'm just chucking these little facts in just to flesh it out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they were reaching up a bit financially in order to establish you there.

Oh yeah, 100%. My mom worked round the clock. So it was a girls' day school. Which I failed my 11 plus. Paint the picture for them. So they moved all the way there and my brother's obviously like a genius. Is the older brother, Sean? Yeah.

Two years older? Three years. Three years older. And he's so smart and very academically strong and they moved all the way there. And Sean obviously passed his 11 plus and got into the grammar school. And we got there and I failed. So that was pretty That wasn't part of the plan

But then I appealed So I faked my way in Well they took another look at your exams And said actually I think appealing is literally when the parents go in And they beg They literally beg Like

I'm surprised that works Well I don't know It undermines one's faith a bit Oh if you're pushy enough They will get you in Yeah Maybe they were able to shed more light On your winning personality

and other assets. Well, I didn't really have a great personality then. I was so, I was not cool. So, I don't know. You've said you were rebellious. Was that later? Yeah, I think in the sense of, I think it would have been a really safe route,

especially for my parents, to know that I was going to choose a career, go to university, get the degree, practice, and become something a little bit more straightforward. So, yeah, I think I was relish in the sense I made it really hard for my family in the sense. I chose to do a career that can be quite expensive to do, to start in. And there's no guarantee of money or success.

And, you know, there's no dry land. You have Tamil heritage. Do you feel connected to your Tamil heritage? Sometimes, yeah. Do you speak Tamil? No. Do you go back, have you been over there at all? Yeah, I used to go back as a kid.

I went to Mumbai a few years ago I would love to visit India more often than I really should Maybe I'll go back this Christmas Presumably your parents had An option to raise you bilingual And then thought I know

My mom speaks Hindi Tamil Tamil I was saying it wrong the whole time Well I've been So Westernised It's a joke And English obviously now

and all I can speak is English I learnt more German when I had a German partner than I did being raised in an Indian family but talk about the school and how it was a challenging environment did you not have great friends or was it a very

was it cleaky so cleaky I had friends but I just think I I spent a lot of my time alone and I think it was a reflection of how unhappy I was that I was always daydreaming about what my life would be outside of all of this. So I was always...

And what would it have been thinking about what? As an actor? Yeah. Musician, singer? Yeah, everything. Just like... As a star. Well, I didn't say that.

But it's a daydream. You're allowed to say that. Yeah. I wanted something... I wanted a life where I was fulfilling my dreams and my passions and to have fun. And I guess I was rebellious in the sense I didn't like being told what to do. I felt like I was way. wasting time, just maybe not a great example to set for any young audiences listening to this,

that I found it really hard doing academics. Did you apply yourself? Did you find the studies difficult? My brother used to lock me in the house and because he's a teacher, he's great at teaching kids. I'm not even joking when I say this. He would take photos of like a forensic of the house to make sure that I didn't get up and not do my studies, like, so that the TV wasn't, like, okay, it makes him sound like he's crazy, but it's actually more a reflection of how shit I was. Amazing that he was that invested in your academic success, right? Quite sweet. Yeah, he's not crazy. So what were you listening to watching, if you had dreams of show business success, or whatever it may have been, what were you connecting with culturally? I grew up listening to a lot of rock,

Rolling Stones, The Doors, Pink Floyd, reggae, Bob Marley. I grew up listening to... Yeah, my dad has excellent taste in music. And then we would listen to Andrew Lloyd-Weber's music. And then I did classical singing from a young age. So I sang German lead, Italian. What's German lead?

Singing, German singing. A leader. Like the German word for songs. Yeah. Okay. I thought it was like you can sing Soprano, you can sing German lead. Like that's a vocal range. No, yeah, it could be.

Sounds like a German lead or German backup? Yeah. What about, so we, but was it in movies? Were you thinking, obviously now you're a successful actor in TV and movies. So did you have your eyes on that at all? To be an actor? Yeah. Yeah.

I grew up watching Tarantino movies from quite a young age. Like, Uma Thurman's performance in Kill Bill changed my life. As a young girl watching a woman of that kind of character, so tenacious and so, you know, physically strong and the storyline being so simple that she just wants to get her daughter back, kill fucking everyone on the way. Yes, she does. Female rage.

And the way I'm such a Tarantino fan, the way his movies are executed and the soundtracks as well, I just was like I just want to be a part of this form of work, this line of work. Have you met Tarantino? Have you? He's retired from movie making, I believe. But don't they say that all the time and then one other one comes out? Do you think so?

Do you think it's become like a flex? It's like boxers used to do that and then they'd come back, I'm going to come out of retirement. And now it almost feels like that's just something everyone does. rappers do it. Oh, really? Jay-Z retired and then just came back. I'm thinking of retiring, just purely to get a bigger payday.

Tyson Fury is retiring every couple of years. I don't think that's calculated, but I think it ends up kind of being advantageous. It drives up demand. You should retire. Maybe. Just for like six months. Maybe this is an answer yet. I wonder how long you have to do it before your value, before it kind of kicks in.

I haven't met Tarantino to answer your question. I'm not very connected in Hollywood. I hate to disappoint you. My cousin, Justin, you may know, Justin Thoreau, for some reason he insists on mispronouncing our name, is in Devils Weir Prada 2 as well. Was it all right? Did it go okay? Yeah, I saw it for the first time on Monday. Would you give him a good review, Justin? Did you enjoy? Is he a compatible confrere on the set? 100%. He is a very pivotal character and moment.

But is he a nice guy? He is a wonderful guy. Really lovely. Is he toxic? Is he difficult? Is he deaverish? Is he a martinet? No, he's incredibly kind.

Not that I'm leading the witness. I spoke to him five minutes before you came in the room. Oh, yeah. And said, I'm about to speak to Simone. What's the word? And he said, two thumbs up. Great. I'm trying to get some beef going, but it's not really working.

I've read you. I think Mindy Kaling has been important to you. Growing up, yeah, I look up to her so much and I think she's amazing. But I grew up watching her. Talk more about that, though. The idea that for you as a girl, young woman growing up, it would have felt, what, that it connected you to something, to see people that looked like you?

Representation, yeah. Though it wasn't really any, I never, I wasn't self-conscious about it. No. I knew that I had dark skin and, sometimes I was bullied for it or like it was the racial banter within the family like it was just a thing but like within the family

well in the sense it's like well you know if I got told off at school my mum would be like well make sure that you double down on this because you're the brown kid and you're easy to pick out and to remember because that's what they will refer you to which one was it oh the brown kid so that's what I mean

it was just something that was so normalised in my that was just what it was. But it was never like, oh, I'm never going to achieve my dreams because I'm brown. I was so beyond. I didn't think that way at all. And did you, the school, was it a big deal or not really? Not really. There's some schools in West London that are majority Asian.

Like there's certain parts of West London where there's just large Asian communities. Yeah. But it sounds like maybe your school wasn't one of those. Yeah, it was predominantly white. Yeah. But school, I always knew school was just a moment in time. It wasn't a reflection of what my reality would be out in the bigger world. At a certain point you thought, okay, I don't like being at this school.

I've gone back to the earlier topic. And I want to pursue my destiny. I want to seek my fortune. So I tried out a year at this drama school and I essentially got kicked out. because I suck at dancing. And I was told that it wasn't... But it wasn't just a dance school. It was a triple threat course for musical theatre.

I, and a lot of other people would argue, that was strongly leaning towards the dance threat. Was there something about musical theatre in particular? Yeah, I loved the discipline of it. I grew up classically singing. When you say musical theatre, I'm thinking of The Sound of Music. Yeah, Rogers and Thammonstein. Guys and Dolls, Mary Poppins.

West Side Story. That was your meat and potatoes. You loved that stuff. What was your favourite musical? Gosh, Evita. West Side Story. Sound of music? I love Sound of music.

I feel like I've kind of forced you to say that. I know I love sound of music. I know it's set in Austria. I used to go to Switzerland and Austria all the time and it's one of my favorite places on the planet. The mountains. It's got people, everyone knows what sound of music is. Is that Rogers and Hammerstein? I think so.

It's a good serious social message about defying the Nazis. And he sings Adel Weiss, I believe it, is it Rex Harrison? No. Christopher Plummer. Christopher Plummer. I'm getting mixed up. Anyway, Adelvice is the song. Adelvice is such a beautiful song and it's about a mountain flower.

And men used to climb up the mountain to pick the Adel Weiss to bring back for their wives to show them their love. Is that true? Yeah, it's a mountain flower that will literally weather any storm. I knew that it was a mountain flower. I'd been told that, you know, they pitch it as like it's a traditional Austrian folk song in the musical, but apparently it was written for the musical. Really? Yeah.

Quite a surprise, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Because it's got a timeless feel about it. Yeah. So you'd seen all these musicals, I can do that. You went to the school and then they're like, nah. You haven't got it.

Well, I was like, I can do that, and I loved doing it, and I loved the discipline of it, and I love the art of it. I really loved it. And then I went to the school and I realized, oh, the behind the scenes of it is actually not who I want to be and not who I am as a person. Would you mean the behind the scenes of it? Just like. The reality. The reality, yeah. And then I really started to think, do I want a longstanding career in musical theatre for the rest of my life?

Not really. I wanted to do. I was the kid when we finished school. I would go home and everyone else would be. rehearsing or whatever that applies to the course and I'd be at home watching Tarantino movies and all singing Alicia Keys and all of that and yeah I think it just I think it was really evident that I was really leaning into the singing and the acting side but the dance side I could move and I can dance but I by no means am I a ballerina I always believe especially artists but this applies

to anyone. I think you always know your agency and who you are. I think you've just got to be in the right environment with the right people and then it can be let out and I was not in the right environment, which is fine. I left and then I started working for Netflix and doing other things. This episode is brought to you by MoneyBox, the award-winning saving and investing app. Money's important. Why? Well, because it means freedom, freedom to enjoy your life. We're now in a new tax year, and as long as you're in the UK and over 18, you have a brand new ISA allowance. So you can save up to £20,000 and not pay any tax on the interest you earn. This is the last year that your cash ICER allowance is £20,000, before it's reduced for under 65s in April,

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We do a lot of our shopping these days online. I've often thought in another life I could have had a blossoming online shop on Shopify. What would I sell? Maybe my chart-topping books, some TLTP bingo cards for the Die Hard Podcast. fans. I could finally centralize all that bootleg merch, pillows, cushions, t-shirts, cards in one place. And where would it be? On Shopify. If you want a better experience shopping online for you and your customers, Shopify is the answer. It's the commerce platform behind millions of your favorite thriving businesses like Jim Shark and even Mattel, the international toy-making

conglomerate. But it doesn't matter how big or small your business is. The big bonus of using Shopify is that they'll help you every step of the way, from designing your first website to finding customers, marketing new products, managing inventory, shipping internationally and beyond. Important for my many fans overseas. They're the ultimate business partner and the best part of all, you can do all that in one place. See fewer shopping carts go abandoned. on those websites. You know what I mean? I can't deal with this. I'm going to stop doing it. And earn more with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash louis.

That's Shopify.com slash Louis. L-O-U-I-S. We should talk about, you mentioned Netflix. So when you finally, you've got paparazzi at your door, right? It must get quite weird, quite quick. I think paparazzi, no, they went to. my old family address. Did they? And they went to my neighbour. Back in Beckonsfield area?

You don't want to say Beckonsfield. Did you never live there? Never ever lived there. It's quite a big place. You go there now? House's been knocked down. Nice. You're throwing them off the scent.

You're worried that people arrive in Beckonsfield and they just start going around like, hey, can you show it's where Simone Ashley's house is? Well, that happened. And they targeted a really, old lady and she had no idea and she... But it wasn't a fan, it was it a fan or a paparato? I think it was the sun?

The sun newspaper. Yeah. And they went to an old lady's house to do what? To ask where I was and then she gave them a different address and it was in the like butt fuck nowhere. So that was fine. She threw them off the scent. I think so, yeah.

I've never had them outside my doorstep in London. They're everywhere in New York. York. So, I was making... New York, it goes with the territory in a weird way. I think people almost get ready for it. Yeah, I don't know. I just make sure I've got my lip balm.

Where do you mostly live? New York. Do you? I moved there last year. Nice. I'm having the time of my life in New York. I love it. I changed my life.

Yeah. It must have been very odd. Like when you realized tabloids are interested in me social media I'm going to dig out a quote you said something like you said social media is something I need to get better at

did I when did I say that I think probably in Harper's Bazaar last year maybe I don't know yeah I guess I do if I said that what I'm asking is how easy was it to navigate what insights did you have when you realized oh I've become public property Like suddenly people who like me are saying how amazing I am And then there's a few people who don't like me

And they're saying the opposite And can you stay away from that and all that? Property is a profound word to use But I guess some people feel that way Yeah they do Especially with that parasycial relationship That fans have with something as huge as Bridgeton People are over-invested

Like they're like, oh that's my Bridgeton Yeah Oh, 100%. That's my Jonathan Bailey. Do you know what I mean? I do know what you mean. I think, okay, I mean I've had more and more experience now doing interviews, press, press tours, promoting work that I, in terms of like the tabloid side of it, you soon learn things that you just don't want to be highlighted in a sparkly headline on the Daily Mail, which will happen. There might be something pulled out here.

My season was the best. Simone actually rips the other seasons of Bridgeton in a bizarre tirade. It won't say that, obviously. But Pete, it's amazing how something seemingly innocent can somehow out of context seem quite weird. And I learned that very quickly. So that was something I really had to navigate and just learn when to shut up, basically. I think in terms of the public property part and maybe this is something I need to work on

and worry about myself more but I'm fine with it in the sense I think my mum raised me really well I think I'm not an offensive person look I love my work if it means that I can go and make music act do all these creative things great I get to do my passion and life

and yes it's a choice I made so no one put a gun to my head saying hey you've got to do this. I made this choice and there are hides to it and then there are parts that are a little bit you know I have to navigate it so I'm fine I actually

what I find stressful is protecting the people who are closest to me around me because I would never want them to feel the stress of my lifestyle so that's a big thing for me someone said other people is the price

that celebrities pay for their fame. In other words, like, you kind of have all the perks, right? As a famous person, one does. But the people around you don't really get the benefits, and they're the ones who sometimes pay the price a bit. I certainly don't mind going around doing selfies, but it's kind of boring for my family. I mean, that's a small example.

You know, I've been lucky enough to be with people that encourage me and that go shine, go do your thing. Like, go. Your parents. Parents, friendships, relationships. I think things change, you know. I can only imagine it's very different when you're a bit older and you've got family and you've been in a partnership with someone for many, many years. I can imagine it changes. But at the moment, I'm not married. I'm dating. Don't be a big statement if you said you were married. Oh yeah. The first time I'm revealing it as well. Okay, this is a hot potato. Okay.

This is something I talked to Joan Collins about. She talked about how if you were too beautiful, it could hold you back. So you're very beautiful, and I wonder if you feel that in any way, there's any context in which that could feel like a disadvantage. Thank you for saying that. I feel like, do you have to feel obliged to say thank you if someone makes that comment, right? It's weird. I'm not sure.

Did you feel like, did you just say it because you felt like you should? Yeah. You didn't feel very grateful. Well, I'm not going to go, indeed, am I? Indeed. No, I know what you mean. Yeah, no, I think that's probably right. I don't analyse myself in that way.

I'm so lucky to have the opportunities I have. So I'm not going to sit here and complain about how I may or may not look. The question would be like, well, why would it hold you back? Yeah. I'm thinking out loud. I guess the answer is less about us, more about the decision makers and them just being stupid. And there's the clickbait. Well, do you nothing?

I don't know. Who are the decision makers? I don't know. I think, well, okay, in theory, yes, that is correct. And I'm sure it's an opinion. What is correct? Okay, maybe you see a performance or something and you're like, oh, maybe you've heard someone be like, oh, that's so distracting. how they look.

Or maybe there's another construction which is, oh, she's a model. Look at her Instagram. She's doing, I'm not talking about you specifically. This is a kind of fictional post. She's always on the cover of Vogue or on a runway or, and she's not doing street theatre in Poland. Do you know what I'm talking about? I do know what you're talking about, yeah.

And so you could imagine that would create a prejudice that, oh, that brings an association of glamour rather than craft. Right. Fairly or unfairly. No, I think it's always about the craft. Totally. If your craft is like your ride or die and your main priority and that's why you're doing something

and learning more about your craft, exercising that muscle, that is all that matters. But I think how boring to fit into a category of how you got there. Because I think... Well, we should... I don't know people who were listening or watching would know that initially you got signed up as a model. Is that correct?

I actually didn't. I did a little bit of modelling in LA just to pay the bills. When you're late teens, you'd moved to, we've resumed the sub-narrative. Having left the Chiswick Performing Arts School, you went to L.A.? Or to Ohio? No, I've got family in Ohio. I went to L.A. Did you get scouted when you were out there?

No, I got scouted in London. But I didn't book any work. I made no money. I basically used it so I could stay in this apartment. And audition for like... Really? Yeah. Why having signed you in London did they send you to L.A.?

I think it was my idea. I think I was like, I just want to go there. And your parents said... My parents, because I was so young in my late teens, my mum was like, okay, just let her try it out. And then when I came back to London and I was auditioning more and stuff, I think I was like 21, and my mom was like,

she ever so slightly whispered like if this doesn't work out in a few years' time we kind of need to reassess it and I always knew I'd be fine Was there a time when they were freaking out like when you got you did say you were expelled from the

performing art school right they must have been like oh that's not good if they did they never vocalised it really so they were pretty chill by and large no they I think they were just more like I don't know to be honest I was so not bothered by it. Obviously, I was emotional when it happened

and, like, crying to my boyfriend at the time. But even he was like, this is a good thing. This is fine. Life can be your education, not an institute. The School of Life. The University of Life. The University of Hard Knocks. Yeah.

Zane Malik. Wow, you are going back. Yeah. I love how. I was told by Disney to come here and talk about specific things. We've talked about. What else? You have come up with some real, like, really cool, like, niche things. Thank you for doing your research.

Say Malik is not. I beg your part. No, niche in my career, yeah. By the way, what did Disney tell you to, but we talked about Devil Wears Prada too? Not really. Stanley Tucci? We have not talked about it. Merrill Street. Yes, but we haven't spoken about it.

Let's say something about that. Ask me a question. How was it making the devil wears Prada too? Amazing. Best summer of my life. I've said that so many times. It's getting boring now. I need to stop saying it's the best summer of my life. But it's supposed to be good. My first day on that movie, I was not relaxed at all.

I was incredibly nervous. First day must be tough. Yeah, I was thrown in. Do you do a table read as well? We did do a table read. That was nerve-wracking, yeah. And it was my first time meeting everyone. You're working off the script.

Off the script. In a way, I'd be thinking, well, at least you don't have to memorize it. You can just read it out. So maybe that's less nerve-wracking. But then I actually find a bit more nerve-wracking because you're staring at the page. And especially if you're nervous and new, you're really trying to show that you've got the job for a reason. So you're just clinging on to this script, trying to make it sound exciting.

But on set, yeah, different kind of nerves. I'm feeling ending energy. I feel like it would be good to end on something of substance, but, you know, my feelings only count for so much. What does the future hold? That's not a bad ending question. Where do you go next? You're taping the movie.

It's called, you peaked. Peaked. And the music's coming. Music's coming out. Recorded with, I should mention Fraser T. Smith. He, you know? I met him at Stormseys party name drop. Very cool. And a fan of his music, do you know what the T stands for? Why don't I know that? I should know. I just thought

a Theodore. Why do I know that is probably more to the point. Yeah, why do you? Because I looked it up. Oh. It stands for Thornycroft. Ah, well that makes so much sense. You could see why he might drop it. Because he's a grind producer. Well, he's not just. In fact, for five years, he was Craig David's I know. Yeah, we went to Jules Holland together where he played at Craig. So they're still tight, him and Craig? Oh, brother. Made amazing. So if you listen to the guitar on

I'm walking away, you're probably listening to Fraser's guitar work, I'm guessing. So there's that. And what else? Devil Weiss Prada. But the big picture. And the plan is to scale the heights. To find love? Oh yeah. Always. Always. have another great year in New York. Are you happily single? Oh, I'm having, yeah, I'm having a great time.

Yeah. I definitely want a relationship and feel very ready for a relationship. But I think it's about finding the right person and everyone always says right time, but I think it's just finding someone that loves a choice, you know? That's like, okay, I choose to commit to this or do this. because a relationship's very different to dating. I thought you're going to say situation ship. I don't get into those.

I don't even know what those are, really. It's a way to just keep things vague. Yeah. Toxic non-commitment. Yeah. Not my style. Fuck boy shit. Haven't got time for that.

Maybe that's a good note to end on. Yeah. Haven't got time for fuck boys. No fuck boy shit requires. Thank you so much for coming by. I really appreciate it. Thank you for rolling with the random... No, I love it.

The randomness. Welcome back. Did you enjoy that? Millie's main takeaway was that I kept saying the devil's wear Prada instead of the devil wears Prada. If you spotted that, give yourself a pat on the back. I was in a flow state. I actually noticed when I said it the first time and I was like, I'm going to keep going.

When you're in a whole stop digging is a phrase that often comes to mind in my world. What does that mean? It just means if you screw up, don't even necessarily apologize. Just keep moving. Because sometimes you double back and you think, oh, you know when earlier I said, you have a really big nose, I really shouldn't have said that. You're making it worse. Are you okay about the thing I said? Does that make sense?

Just move on. Never apologize, never explain. You know, that's true up to a problem. point. Let's get back to the debrief. Millie's written, you didn't manage to cancel just in this episode. Because I made a joke about was he inappropriate on set, which, you know, he's my cousin and my friend, so sometimes closeness is expressed through banter, through cheeky, it's a benign violation. That was the phrase, I think, Jimmy Carr used. We'll get him cancelled eventually. and then I can move in on all those high-paying Hollywood gigs.

Corsodil came up. The mouthwash, which was formerly a sponsor. They're not on our sponsorship list anymore, so we don't have to pretend. We don't have to pretend anymore. Right. Does it treat COVID? Studies on the effectiveness of Corsodil,

which contains, this is the real, stay tuned for this. Claw hexidine against COVID-19. has yielded conflicted and limited results. Some research suggests a temporary reduction in viral load in the mouth, but it's generally less effective than some other mouthwatch ingredients in the laboratory and clinical settings. Like you probably already thought of this about Cetal prudinium chloride, or pavidone iodine.

If you already knew that, forgive me, some people haven't got the news yet about Cetalpridinium chloride. Indeed. Do you have any turns of phrase you are overly reliant on? Millie says, I can name a few. Go on then. Get the bingo card out. Well, that's what the bingo card's for.

How's your energy? Yes, people in Radio Land, legendary, can I be a bit basic? We'll edit that out. Let's unpack that. You're making me sound like a bot. It's not far away. The Lou Bot. Did I say people?

Stop saying people in Radio Land. There's a point where it seems like it's an affectation. I'm going to retire all these. I'm going to find different words. And then if you spot one of them, we'll send you a free t-shirt. No? If you spot one, why, we couldn't afford that. If you spot one and you get a tattoo of me, we'll send you a free t-shirt. That seems reasonable. That's it for this week. Oh, apart from the credits. This episode was produced by Millie Chu. The researchers were Maun Al-Jazeri and Ellie Young.

The production manager was Francesca Bassett. The music in this series was by Miguel Di Olivera. The executive producer was Aaron Fellows. This is a Mindhouse Studios production for Spotify. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. We do a lot of our shopping these days online. I've often thought in another life I could have had a blossoming online shop on Shopify. What would I sell?

maybe my chart-topping books, some TLTP bingo cards for the Die Hard Podcast fans. I could finally centralize all that bootleg merch, pillows, cushions, t-shirts, cards in one place. And where would it be on Shopify? If you want a better experience shopping online for you and your customers, Shopify is the answer. It's the commerce platform behind millions of your favorite thriving businesses like Jim Shark and even Mattel. The International Toymaking Conglomerate. But it doesn't matter how big or small your business is. The big bonus of using Shopify is that they'll help you every step of the way.

From designing your first website to finding customers, marketing new products, managing inventory, shipping internationally and beyond. Important for my many fans overseas. They're the ultimate business partner. And the best part of all, you can do all that in one place. See fewer shopping carts go abandoned on those websites. You know what I mean? I can't deal with this.

I'm going to stop doing it. And earn more with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash louis. That's Shopify.com slash Louis. L-O-U-I-S.