Nicola Coughlan, who we know and love for her roles in Derry Girls and Bridgerton, has received her first BAFTA nomination for Female Performance in a Comedy for Big Mood.
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She stars as Maggie, who has bipolar disorder, meaning she experiences periods of intense highs (mania) and intense lows (depression). She’s been best friends with Eddie (Lydia West, It’s a Sin) for 10 years, but recently their relationship has become strained.
For half of her time filming Big Mood, Coughlan was also shooting the third season of Bridgerton. She stars as Penelope Featherington, who reveals her secret identity to the Ton as Lady Whistledown, the author of an anonymous gossip sheet.
There are also plenty of steamy scenes with Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), her long-time crush who she ends up marrying. Coughlan even shared an Instagram photo in June 2024 of them both next to a piece of furniture they broke during a sex scene!
Does she feel like she has more agency doing intimate scenes with an intimacy coordinator? "I'm the biggest fan of intimacy coordinators. They’re imperative and brilliant. Lizzy Talbot, who worked on Bridgerton, was so phenomenal," Coughlan told Radio Times exclusively.
She added: "It's really interesting, because you see a lot of backlash from actors of an older generation saying they don't get why intimacy coordinators are there or why they want them. It's not poo-pooing the way that things used to be done or to shame anyone, but it just makes you feel so much safer and in control.
"It's dealt with like a stunt, so it's left in your hands, but you never feel like things are going to go awry or that you don't know what's going to happen next. You leave the set feeling empowered and good, which is what everyone should leave their workday feeling like. There are no blurred lines, it's not scary."
The highly anticipated fourth season of Bridgerton likely won’t be released until 2026. Luke Thompson’s Benedict Bridgerton and his love story with maid Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) will be the focus as they become acquainted at Violet Bridgerton’s (Ruth Gemmell) masquerade ball.
We’ll be able to catch Coughlan in The Magic Faraway Tree, Simon Farnaby’s film adaptation based on The Faraway Tree series of children’s novels by Enid Blyton, later this year.
She’ll star as woodland fairy Silky alongside fellow BAFTA nominee Jessica Gunning, plus Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy.
Laura Rutkowski is the Junior Commissioning Editor at Radio Times magazine, where she looks after a column called "What it's like to…", which spotlights behind-the-scenes roles within the TV and film industry – from stunt coordinators to costume designers. She loves finding out how productions are made and enjoys covering a wide variety of genres. Laura is half-American and half-British and joined Radio Times in 2022. She has a degree in Psychology and a Master's in Magazine Journalism.
