Natalie Simpson was born in Nigeria to an English father and Nigerian mother and spent the first decade of her life in Lagos, Nigeria. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, graduating in 2015. While at LAMDA she played Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra directed by Rodney Cottier. Simpson made her professional debut playing Juliet in Joe Hill-Gibbons’ production of Measure for Measure at the Young Vic Theatre, London. She made her Royal Shakespeare Company debut in 2016 playing Ophelia opposite Paapa Essiedu’s Hamlet, along with Guiderius in Cymbeline and Cordelia in King Lear with Sir Antony Sher in the title role. For Justin Audibert, she played Duchess Rosaura in the first revival of James Shirley’s The Cardinal since 1641 at the Southwark Playhouse, London. Simpson was nominated for the 2016 Ian Charleson Award for her work with the Royal Shakespeare Company.