--- description: Find out how Simone Ashley is shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership. title: 2022 TIME100 Next: Simone Ashley image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf001f8bf623e052d/698a35d022fb8582ffe2deb3/time100-next-simone-ashley.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 28, 2022 # Simone Ashley by Lilly Singh  Paul Scala—Trunk Archive Paul Scala—Trunk ArchivePaul Scala—Trunk Archive Is this where I get to talk about my obsession with [Simone Ashley](https://time.com/6160937/simone-ashley-bridgerton-kate-sharma/ "undefined")? Great, because I have nothing but love for her. The way Simone delivers confidence onscreen—not only as a South Asian woman, but just as an actor—was so empowering to see in [_Bridgerton_](https://time.com/5921482/bridgerton-books-netflix/ "undefined")_._ She has such an impressive range, I feel she’s one of those actors you can put in any scene and [she’ll make it her own](https://time.com/6160937/simone-ashley-bridgerton-kate-sharma/ "undefined") and steal the show. That alone makes me extraordinarily excited for the rest of her career. When we met at a Netflix shindig, we immediately connected and that budded into a friendship that is still growing. She’s already in the perfect position to make major moves, but if she were ever to ask me for advice, I would tell her to continue searching for projects that excite her and motivate her. Simone is exactly the person to push the boundaries and take representation to a whole new level. I will be cheering her on! _Singh is an entertainer and social media creator_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213733/simone-ashley/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213733/simone-ashley/"},"headline":"Simone Ashley","datePublished":"2022-09-28T09:58:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:06:57.971Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213733/simone-ashley/","keywords":["TIME 100 Next","sponsorshipblock","time100nextphenoms2022"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf001f8bf623e052d/698a35d022fb8582ffe2deb3/time100-next-simone-ashley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf001f8bf623e052d/698a35d022fb8582ffe2deb3/time100-next-simone-ashley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213733/simone-ashley/","name":"Simone Ashley"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 Next: See Every Honoree","description":"See every 2022 TIME100 Next honoree in under two minutes.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/i4LJ3fau/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-09-28T10:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/i4LJ3fau.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213733/simone-ashley/","duration":"PT1M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213733/simone-ashley/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```