Mika Simmons

Simmons was born in Greenwich, London. She grew up and attended Wellsway Comprehensive school in Somerset before moving to Leeds to study. She graduated with a BA in English Literature and Theatre Studies from the University of Leeds.[1]

Following graduation, Simmons trained as an actress at the Drama Studio London.[1]

Following her education, Simmons landed a role on ITV's Frenchman's Creek. It was a TV film based on the novel of the same name.[2] The film follows Lady Dona, who uncharacteristically becomes involved with a French pirate and steals a British ship. Simmons played the role of Prudence in the film.[3]

In 2002, she played the role of Sally in Channel 4's TV movie, Falling Apart. The film was a period drama, about domestic violence in a middle-class relationship in Britain. The success of the film led it to receive positive reviews in the British media. It went onto win two BAFTA's, with best new director in the fiction category and also a new writer award.[4] In 2011, Simmons played in the play, You Once Said Yes, which won both the Fringe First and Total Theatre awards.[5][6]

Simmons became the voice of Queen Anora in the video game series, Dragon Age, in 2012.[1] More recently, she played in the ITV drama, Unforgotten. In 2016, she played the role of Kate in Film London's Balcony. The film went onto win a Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.[7]

In 2018 Mika wrote, co-produced and directed her first short film, Rain Stops Play, a comedy short about sex and the sexes. In 2019, Rain Stops Play won the Silver Remi for Best Comedy Short at the Houston Film Festival. The film premiered at Fragments Festival, Genesis Cinema, London.

In 2017, she was chosen as one of 40 inspirational women to front L’Oréal Lancôme’s powerful women campaign.

Simmons founded the Lady Garden Foundation in 2014 in honour of her late mother who died of ovarian cancer. The foundation has become a leading cancer awareness charity in the UK and is supported by numerous brands and celebrities, such as Topshop and The Duchess of York. The project raises funds for research into these cancers commonly known as the silent killers at The Royal Marsden Hospital. Dr. Susana Banerjee at The Royal Marsden Hospital is one of the main beneficiaries. Since it establishment in 2014, the Lady Garden Foundation has raised over £1,000,000 to assist Dr. Banerjee with her research into treatments.[8]

Today, the Lady Garden Foundation has become a major movement to raise international awareness about Gynaecological Cancers.

Its most notable achievement is the launch of the Lady Garden Campaign. The Lady Garden Campaign was started by the Gynaecological Cancer Fund as a social media campaign to raise awareness, promote screening and fund research into better treatment of gynaecological cancers. Since 2015, the campaign has coordinated its promotional efforts around Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month, which takes place in Britain in every September.

As soon as the social media campaign was launched, it saw huge celebrity endorsements online, from the likes of Ellie Goulding, Margot Robbie, Alexa Chung and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley on social media.[9][10] The media suggested that the campaign went viral in the summer of 2015, reaching more than 40 million people on social media within 24 hours.[11][12][13]

In April 2016, the campaign held its first Lady Garden 5k, which took place in Battersea Park, London.[14][15]

• Kris in Birthday Boy (2021)
• Rose in Us Among The Stones (2018)
• Chambers in Unforgotten (2016)
• Queen Anora in the video game series, Dragon Age (2012–present)
• Emily in You Once Said Yes (2012)
• DI Kitson in Bad Girls (2005)
• Gemma Lynch in Casualty (2005)
• Sally in Falling Apart (2002)
• Prudence in Frenchman's Creek (1998)[16]

• Mika Simmons at IMDb