Mecia Simone Simson (; born 29 December 1989) is an English actress and model. She won the fifth series of ''

Britain's Next Top Model ''Britain's Next Top Model'' (or ''Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model'' 2011–13), often abbreviated as ''BNTM'', ''BINTM'', or ''Top Model'', is a British-Irish reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of ''Bri ...

'' (2009). More recently, she is known for her role as Francesca Findabair in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

The Witcher ''The Witcher'' ( pl, Wiedźmin ) is a series of six fantasy novels and 15 short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are bea ...

'' (2021–).

Early life and education

Simson was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

to an English mother and a Jamaican father. She attended Dunstone Primary School,

Plymstock School Plymstock School is a state comprehensive secondary school (ages 11–19) in Plymstock, a suburb of Plymouth, Devon, England. It was the first West Devon comprehensive school (built on the core of a post war secondary school) and is now a Speci ...

, and City College Plymouth. After taking a year-long foundation course at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

in 2016, Simson went on to graduate with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Acting from the

Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play ''Where the Rainbow Ends''. For ...

in 2019.

Career

At the age of 19, Simson competed in and won the fifth series of the

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witness. ...

reality television competition ''

'' in 2009. Shortly after winning, she landed her first cover photoshoot for the magazine ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

''. She went on to have gigs with

Stella McCartney Stella Nina McCartney (born 13 September 1971) is an English fashion designer. She is a daughter of British singer-songwriter Paul McCartney and the late American photographer and animals rights activist Linda McCartney. Like her parents, McCa ...

Max Factor Max Factor is a line of cosmetics from Coty, Inc. It was founded in 1909 as Max Factor & Company by Max Factor, Sr., Maksymilian Faktorowicz. Max Factor specialized in movie make-up. Until its 1973 sale for US$500 million (approximately $ billio ...

, and

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

, and appear in the

Olly Murs Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television presenter. He was runner-up on the sixth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2009 and was subsequently signed to RCA Records and Sony Music in the United Kingdom, ...

music video "Oh My Goodness". In 2014, Simson was a finalist on the

Beverley Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

-filmed series ''Model Turned Superstar''. She was previously signed with Milk London and Q New York, and is currently signed with Established Models. After graduating from drama school, Simson made a guest appearance in an episode of the

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

science fiction series ''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarch ...

'' in 2020. The following year, Simson joined the main cast of the

adaptation of ''

'' for its second season as the elven sorceress Francesca Findabair.

Personal life

Simson moved to London for her career and as of 2023, is based in

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner Lo ...

. She also regularly visits her family in Plymouth.

Filmography

Music video

* "Oh My Goodness" (2011),

References

External links

*
Mecia Simson
{{DEFAULTSORT:simson, mecia Living people 1989 births Actresses from Plymouth, Devon Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts English female models English people of Jamaican descent Next Top Model winners Participants in British reality television series Models from Devon