Simone Ashley happy to see diverse representation in ‘Picture This’ movie

Bridgerton star reveals why she wants to play leading ladies of the 90s rom-coms

Bridgerton star Simone Ashley has recently expressed her elation for diverse representation on screen as she talks about her new movie, Picture this.

Speaking to the Reign with Josh Smith podcast on Tuesday, Simone, who was born to Tamil parents, stars as photographer Pia in the new rom-com, revealed she never saw herself represented on screen while growing up.

“I really wanted to be Cameron Diaz when I was younger,” said the 29-year-old.

The Sex Education star explained, “I loved all the characters she played, but the girls that looked like me were always the side chick or just the one that didn’t win and that didn’t reflect my real life because I’ve won in real life in many ways.”

“I would say the younger me is kind of like, ‘oh my gosh, we did a rom-com and it’s an Indian girl leading it!’” remarked Simone.

The Little Mermaid actress mentioned she could have seen characters that reminded her of herself on screen.

However, she hoped to achieve this representation now with Picture This, as she noted, “To put it simply… When it comes to this movie, I just want brown women to have it and to just win!”

“I hope that I can help other women and other girls that look like me go, ‘it’s possible,’” stated This Tempting Madness actress.

Simone recalled growing up watching all the 90s rom-coms like My Best Friend’s Wedding, all the Julia Roberts ones, all the Anne Hathaway ones and all the Cameron Diaz ones.

Comparing herself to the rom-com leads of the 90s, the actress went on to say, “I’ve also had chaos in real life in many ways, like Bridget Jones.”

“The reason why I wanted to do this movie [Picture This] was because I wanted to show the world just the human side of someone and then celebrate the culture at the same time,” she added.