Simone Ashley dives into the world of rom-coms in ‘Picture This’
The "Bridgerton" alum plays a chaotic and career-driven photographer looking for love after having her birth chart and palm read before her sister's upcoming nuptials
Simone Ashley as Pia in "Picture This."
Prime Video
Words by Vandana Pawa
Simone Ashley has officially left the Ton, and is finding love in London in an entirely new way. Adapted from the Australian film Five First Dates, Amazon’s new streaming release Picture This, which came out on Thursday, stars Ashley as Pia, a slightly chaotic, career-driven photographer working to save her financially struggling studio. This priority is put aside for some time for her younger sister’s upcoming wedding, which requires her attendance at multiple events and compliance with many traditions and rituals. One such ritual includes a reading of her birth chart and palm, which says that one of the next five men she meets will be her soulmate.
Cue the romantic comedy and wedding hijinks, including a Bollywood-inspired choreographed dance from family and friends—a must have at South Asian weddings. Ashley even made a special surprise appearance last week at a dance class celebrating the film. Picture This takes Pia through a sometimes awkward, sometimes hilarious, but always charming journey towards her true love. Ashley recently spoke with JoySauce about the film, her character’s chaotic style, rom-com tropes, and what it means to be a part of the growing South Asian presence in western media.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Vandana Pawa: A wedding is the central focal point of Picture This, and we see different points of the very long Indian wedding timeline throughout the story. What is your favorite South Asian wedding ritual and tradition? Are there pieces in the film that were resonant to your own family, your own cultural traditions?
Simone Ashley: I think each family is really different, right? The wedding ceremony in itself is always the most beautiful. You know, there’s such a big lead up to it. That’s the biggest moment.
VP: One of my favorite parts of South Asian weddings is dressing up, Desi clothes are the best. I loved Pia's wedding style in the movie because it was very bold and distinct to her personality. How did the costuming and styling process of the movie go?
SA: For Pia, we kind of just spoke to her chaotic nature. She's an East London girl, a photographer. A lot of her clothes were thrift shop-influenced outfits. Her hair was dyed purple. She's really different from her sister Sonal, who's much more manicured and feminine in her approach with her makeup and stuff. I really liked the contrast between them. I loved that Pia had her frizzy, curly hair. Her clothes were just always really mismatched with loads of different patterns. You know, she's an artist, she's a creative, so we kind of just splashed that all over her. Even her nails. She always had mismatching nails with different prints on them. For her wedding lehenga at the end, it was the only one that we tried on really. I wanted something that was showing her moment as the heroine. The white, gold, glittery and sparkly outfit where you could really see her shine. It was beautiful.
One of the focal points of "Picture This" is the wedding of Pia's younger sister Sonal.
Prime Video
VP: Family pressure, societal pressure, that's also a big theme in the movie. Pia is pushing back on that a lot. You play the role of a headstrong older sister whose main goal is chasing her dreams. What would you say to other eldest daughters of immigrant families who are facing the same pressure?
SA: I'm not a perfect person by any means, so any advice I give is just from my personal experience. I think I am very lucky to come from a really supportive family that just recognized that I was good at something. They recognized my drive and ambition, so they really trusted me. I was very, very lucky to have that. That also came from a place of me trusting myself. If I didn't trust myself, I think they would have been able to sense that. So make sure that trust comes from within you at the beginning.
VP: That support, I'm sure, was invaluable. Now that we're at a place where South Asian stories are becoming more prominent in Hollywood, in western media what do you make of this new era of South Asians in the media?
SA: I'm really proud. And I'm really excited. I think we've still got so much work to do and I think we're just getting started. Well, no, I take that back. [Laughs.] We're not just getting started. We're on a really successful journey. And I know I have a lot of women that look up to me and I just hope I can set a positive example for them. That's my biggest hope with any work that I do.
VP: It's definitely been a long time coming for the community.
SA: Exactly.
Simone Ashley and Hero Fiennes Tiffin in "Picture This."
Prime Video
VP: This is also your first official rom-com. Have you been bitten by the bug yet? Can we expect more rom-com heroines from Simone Ashley?
SA: I would love that. I'm a big rom-com fan. I grew up watching rom-coms and I always wanted to be part of that world so yeah I'd love to do another rom-com, maybe in a few years time.
VP: What drew you to this one specifically? It's a remake, an adaptation of an Australian film.
SA: I think sometimes something simple can be so powerful. And that's what I felt with this storyline. It was about a girl that got her fortune read, and that’s what segued her. It gave her the catalyst she needed to go out there and find the love of her life. And I loved that the romance trope in this story was about second chances, you know? An ex-flame coming back in and reuniting. Two paths reuniting. I really loved that.
VP: Is second-chance romance your favorite rom-com trope?
SA: I love friends to lovers, enemies to lovers. Honestly anything in that world, because the common denominator is always love, right?
From left, Sindhu Vee and Simone Ashley play mother and daughter in "Picture This."
Prime Video
VP: That’s true. You can’t go wrong. Another relationship we see in the film is the mother-daughter one. Sindhu Vee plays your mother, another amazing South Asian actress that we’ve had championing our stories for years. She even has a little love story of her own in the movie.
SA: She's amazing. I love her.
VP: What did it mean to showcase that relationship?
SA: Yeah, we definitely had a lot of modern twists in there. I think it was something that me and Sindhu were really proud and excited about. To have the chance to create that journey for the characters together. It really starts in a certain place and ends in an entirely different place. The final scene between the two of them, it really touches me every time because I think we all have these moments with our parents, or whoever's taking care of us, our close loved ones, where there can be so much conflict. But suddenly you really see each other and understand each other. I think they get to meet each other, not as mother and daughter, but as two equals in that moment.
Published on March 10, 2025