“Bridgerton” star Simone Ashley has received an IMDb “Breakout” STARmeter Award, TheWrap can exclusively reveal. She is the second from the series to receive the honor, after fellow alum Regé Jean-Page last year.
Ashley, who played the fiercely protective older sister Kate Sharma in Netflix’s smash hit period romance series, was bestowed the award for being among the “fan favorites” on the IMDbPro STARmeter chart, which is determined by the page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb. Fueled by her breakout role on the show and her turn in another beloved Netflix series, “Sex Education,” the actress surged to the No. 1 spot on the STARmeter chart for two consecutive weeks. “Bridgerton” itself has continued to trend as a top series on IMDbPro rankings of TV and streaming shows.
“Thank you so much to IMDb for presenting me with a STARmeter Award for Breakout Star,” Ashley said. “Thank you to all the fans of ‘Bridgerton’ Season 2 for watching the show and falling in love with the character of Kate — it was such a joy portraying that character and I’m super excited to see where she goes in Season 3. Thank you to IMDb and IMDbPro for creating such a wonderful platform where users can check out different TV shows and films and the makers behind them all.”
Previous winners in the “Breakout” category include Bill Skarsgård (“It”), John David Washington (“Tenet”), Brie Larson (“Captain Marvel”), Ben Barnes (“Shadow and Bone”), Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Normal People”), Nicholas Braun (“Succession”) and Karen Fukahara (“The Boys”).
Head of IMDbPro Matt Kumin added, “With two seasons so far, ‘Bridgerton’ has introduced global audiences to a host of captivating characters played by a phenomenally talented cast, including our newest IMDb STARmeter Award-honoree, Simone Ashley, and previous STARmeter Award-winner Regé-Jean Page. IMDb is pleased to be a destination for fans to share their passion for breakout shows like Bridgerton, and our professional customers value the IMDbPro STARmeter and TV rankings as the authoritative representation of what’s trending in entertainment.”
In her award presentation video, Ashley also shared her hopes for Kate next season, saying, “I’m excited to see Kate become the Viscountess and the head of the household. I think she has much to learn from Anthony, and they’ll be two little partners doing it together. I’d love to see them have a baby.”
