Lili Simmons Bio
Lili Marie Simmons is an American actress and model best known for playing Rebecca Bowman on the Cinemax drama series Banshee and Claudia Flynn on the Starz series Power Book IV: Force. Born July 23, 1993, in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, she began her entertainment career as a Ford model and moved into screen acting in 2010. Simmons has combined steady television work with selected feature films and independent projects, building a profile as a versatile performer in drama and genre television.
Early Life and Background
Lili Marie Simmons was born and raised in Cardiff-by-the-Sea in San Diego County, California. She was discovered as a teenager by talent manager Kate Linden at age 15, an early event that led her into modeling and then on-camera work. Her formative years in Southern California provided proximity to the regional casting scene and to opportunities in both commercial modeling and entry-level television roles.
Simmons started her public career as a fashion model with Ford Models and worked for brands including Bebe Stores, Roxy, J.C. Penney and Saturn. That commercial modeling experience gave her early on-set exposure and familiarity with the demands of professional shoots, photographic storytelling and promotional work that would inform her later transitions into scripted television and film.
Path to Celebrity
Simmons moved into acting in 2010 with a role in the web series Hollywood Is Like High School with Money, portraying Quinn Whitaker. Early screen appearances followed with small parts on television, and she took a supporting role in the Disney Channel Original Movie Geek Charming in 2011. These first credits established her as a young performer able to work across family-focused television and indie film.
Her first significant film lead came in 2012 when she starred in Fat Kid Rules the World, a coming-of-age feature that further demonstrated her ability to carry emotionally centered material. Simmons continued to build credits through guest appearances on scripted series and through recurring arcs that moved her into higher-profile dramatic television work in the years that followed.
Lili Simmons Career
Early Career (2010–2012)
Simmons’ professional acting career began in 2010 with the web series Hollywood Is Like High School with Money, moving quickly into television guest work on shows such as Zeke and Luther and a small role on the sitcom Mr. Sunshine. In 2011 she appeared in the Disney Channel Original Movie Geek Charming, which introduced her to a wider young-audience television audience.
In 2012 she starred in the feature film Fat Kid Rules the World and made further television guest appearances that year. These early roles combined family-oriented projects and independent film, allowing Simmons to develop range and on-set experience while transitioning out of commercial modeling into sustained acting work.
Breakthrough (2013–2016)
Simmons achieved a career-defining television breakthrough in 2013 when she was cast as Rebecca Bowman, a complex, rebellious Amish woman, on the Cinemax series Banshee. The role expanded her visibility in dramatic television and earned attention for placing a young actor in a central, physically demanding and morally ambiguous part on a premium-cable series. Her casting for Rebecca followed an earlier audition for a different role on the same series; producers later invited her to read for Rebecca and she won the part.
During her run on Banshee from 2013 through 2016, Simmons balanced the series with guest appearances on other television dramas and with editorial exposure, including a pictorial in Maxim magazine in March 2013. The Banshee role became a signature credit, showcasing her capacity for layered dramatic work and action-oriented sequences in a serialized format.
Established Television and Film Work (2014–2025)
Following Banshee, Simmons continued to place recurring and guest roles on prominent television series. In 2014 she began recurring work on Hawaii Five-0 and appeared in the acclaimed series True Detective. She was cast in Westworld in 2016, appearing in a first-season episode, and in 2017 she joined the fifth season of the Showtime drama Ray Donovan in a season-long arc as Natalie James.
In 2019 Simmons was cast to portray the adult Selina Kyle for the series finale of Gotham, a choice made in collaboration with the series’ regular performer for the younger Selina and recognized by producers as a carefully considered creative handoff. Beginning in 2022 she took on the role of Claudia Flynn in the Starz series Power Book IV: Force, a multi-season television credit listed across 2022–2025. Simmons also played a pool shark in the independent feature film Double Down South, which she filmed in 2022; that film later received release attention in 2024.
Notable Works and Milestones
Lili Marie Simmons’ most widely recognized work includes Rebecca Bowman on Banshee and Claudia Flynn on Power Book IV: Force, credits that anchor her television résumé. Her move from commercial modeling into substantive dramatic roles, and her repeated casting in recurring arcs on prestige and genre series such as True Detective, Westworld and Ray Donovan, mark significant milestones in a career that has steadily moved from supporting parts to central storylines.
Lili Simmons Family
Public records list Curt Simmons as a paternal relative identified on official biographical summaries; Curt Simmons is noted as her grandfather in published reference material. Beyond this noted relative, Simmons has kept her immediate family and private family details out of the public biography and has not widely publicized additional family information.
Personal Life
Simmons’ early professional life centered on modeling and on-camera commercial work before her transition to acting; her model credits include work with Ford Models and campaigns for retail and lifestyle brands. She has described working in both modeling and acting as complementary experiences that taught on-set professionalism and the technical skills necessary for film and television production.
In interviews and public appearances Simmons has maintained a professional focus on her work choices and roles. She has not publicly reported marriages, children or long-term partnerships in widely sourced biographical records, and she keeps personal residence and private-family matters private while continuing to pursue acting projects across television and independent film.