Hannah Simone
Age: 44
Birthplace: London, England, UK
Hannah Simone (born August 3, 1980) is a British-Canadian television hostess, actress, and former fashion model. From May 2006 to November 2008, she worked as a VJ for MuchMusic in Canada, and is best known for portraying Cece Parekh on the Fox sitcom New Girl.
Early life
Simone was born in London, to an Indian father and an English mother of German, Italian, and Greek Cypriot descent. Simone spent her early childhood in Calgary, Alberta. From ages 7-10, Simone moved through three continents, attending schools in each one. At the age of 13, Simone was living in Cyprus and was working as a fashion model and was featured on the covers of a local fashion publication. At 16 years old, Simone lived in New Delhi, India and attended the American Embassy School and at 17 returned to Canada. Initially settling at White Rock, British Columbia, she subsequently relocated to Vancouver where she attended the University of British Columbia. After her first degree, she worked as a human rights and refugees officer at the United Nations in England for a year.
Career
Following her 2005 graduation from Ryerson University, Simone became host of HGTV Canada's television show Space for Living for its first season.
Simone worked at MuchMusic as a VJ at MuchMusic Headquarters, as a news presenter for "Much News Weekly" and, the host of the show The NewMusic. She related well to youth interested in alternative artists and interviewed many artists and bands during her time at Much. Simone stopped working at MuchMusic on November 21, 2008, stating that she had plans to move to Los Angeles, California.
Simone earned a role hosting WCG Ultimate Gamer alongside Joel Gourdin on Syfy. The series premiered on March 10, 2009 and ended after its second season on October 7, 2010. Simone currently stars on Fox's comedy New Girl alongside Zooey Deschanel.
Alongside Kate Upton and Génesis Rodríguez, she was featured in Gillette’s “What Women Want” campaign in 2013.
In 2014, she starred alongside Danny Trejo in Train's music video "Angel in Blue Jeans".
In 2016, she starred in music video "Same Air" from The Rocket Summer.
Personal life
Hannah has stated that her background as an interviewer has taught her that opening up about her dating life can never be closed and has made the choice to keep that information private. She says she keeps passions in both human rights and acting, and it is just the paycheck that has switched when beginning her acting career.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Sati Shaves Her Head | Nikki | Short film |
2013 | Oldboy | Stephanie Lee | |
2015 | Miss India America | Sonia Nielson | |
2015 | Flock of Dudes | Beth | |
2015 | Lemonade | Tasha | |
2016 | Folk Hero & Funny Guy | Emily |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Kevin Hill | Larissa | Episode: "Only Sixteen" |
2005 | Kojak | Sexy Girl | 2 episodes |
2006 | Beautiful People | Customer Fix Café | Episode: "A Tale of Two Parties" |
2009-2010 | WCG Ultimate Gamer | Herself/Host | 8 episodes |
2011-present | New Girl | Cecilia "Cece" Parekh | Series regular Teen Choice Awards Choice TV Breakout Performance — Female |
2012 | H+: The Digital Series | Leena Param | Web series |
2013 | 1600 Penn | Princess Abigail of Andorra | Episode: "Bursting the Bubble" |
2013 | So You Think You Can Dance | Herself/Guest judge | Episode: "Las Vegas Callbacks" |
2013 | Hot Package | Model | Episode: "Pilot" |
Other media
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | "Angel in Blue Jeans" music video | Title character | Train video; first role in a music video |