Nicola Coughlan was just four years old when she fell in love with acting inspired by films like The Wizard of Oz. At that moment, he decided that was what he wanted to do in life. “You can travel in time, you can become whatever you want”he said in an interview with CBS News. However, it was not until her thirties that she finally transformed his childhood desire into a successful profession.
Born in a small Irish village near Galway, Coughlan is proud to have “lived a long time, before I was Penelope Featherington.” And that long road includes having worked as waitress, cosmetics and frozen yogurt selleras well as having been receptionist at an optician to cover his basic needs while he went again and again to fruitless auditions. “There were many rejections. Too many. It was tough,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.
Coughlan, the current star of season 3 of Bridgerton, she was always serious about becoming an actress. After completing her basic education, she graduated in English and Classical Civilization from the National University of Ireland. She then decided to apply to drama school in London and took out a loan to pay for the classes.
In dialogue with Radio Times He recalled: “With my English degree I could have gone into teaching, but in my heart I knew I couldn’t do it. My passion for acting was too strong. I’m sure there were times when my parents thought, ‘Why is he still trying to do this?’”
Coughlan explained that he was on the verge of bankruptcy in London. She “she was in debt. She had to work all hours of the day to be able to live there, but that meant she didn’t have time to audition.”
A photo on his Instagram account portrays this stage of personal challenge. In the image, Coughlan looks at the camera and her gaze has a tinge of sadness. “It’s a photograph of me from six years ago, when I was a waitress.”, he described in the 2022 post.
“I remember taking it and joking about how bad my hair looked because I hadn’t been able to afford to go to the hairdresser in months. During that time she was so desperate to act, and she doubted if she would ever make it. She was really broken and heartbroken,” she wrote. “I share it because I am very grateful for all the things I have been fortunate enough to do after this photo.”
Nicola returned home to Galway but was still looking for auditions. So she found an open casting on Twitter for the play “Jess and Joe Forever” at the iconic The Old Vic theater in London. Of the 1,500 actresses who applied, Coughlan got the role. Would this be the shooting star that would change her destiny?
She does credit this work as a turning point. When the production opened to the public, she invited many agents in London so they could see her on stage. Only one representative came to the theater. “He decided to sign me! That opened doors for me that had never been presented to me,” she recalled.
Perseverance paid off when, at age 31, Coughlan landed her first big television role as teenager Clare Devlin on the series Derry Girls on Channel 4. Her character was 15 years old in fiction, but Nicola’s charisma gave way to an unforgettable performance that convinced even the casting directors who were initially elusive to work with her due to the age factor.
The series turned out to be a cultural phenomenon that crossed borders and ran for three seasons from 2018 to 2022. It was the stepping stone that led her, shortly after, to wearing glamorous period costumes in Bridgerton.
She herself confessed to feeling incredulous when she was offered the job so quickly. “I met the casting director’s assistant. I read for him and thought she did well. But I knew it was a Shondaland show for Netflix and I thought, ‘This is going to be months of auditions.’ Two weeks later I received a call offering me the job. I thought, ‘Where’s the catch?’” quote Radio Times.
With her experiences from her twenties to her thirties, Nicola has been frank about the prejudices she faces in the environment where she works. “The industry discriminates based on age. In fact, they advised me many times to lie about my age to obtain better job opportunities,” she recalled in conversation with Refinery 29 this 2024.
And there is also the issue of his physical appearance. In 2018, with season 1 of Derry Girls on the air and while participating in another play, he decided to take out his pen and publish an opinion text in Guardian where he expressed his frustration with critics who focused more on his weight than his talent.
“The first review I saw only had this to say about my performance: ‘Nicola Coughlan as Joyce Emily, the typical overweight girl who will always be the butt of immature jokes from her peers.’ Everything I did to create my character came down to one hurtful word and a casual comment about my appearance.”, he wrote in the British newspaper.
The actress managed to spark a debate about the relevance of acting talent compared to one’s slimness. “I hope that in the future there will be more talk about our work, our inspirations, our drive, than about our appearance. A revolution is taking place and I want to contribute to it,” she signed in her column.
This year, Nicola Coughlan’s character became the focus of the narrative of Bridgerton. The series goes on to explore her romantic life; but it also addresses her aspiration for a successful career.
“Penelope is the most modern heroine we’ve ever had because she not only wants marriage and love, she also wants a career. It is difficult for women to have it all; There should be no shame in wishing for it,” she reflected to Radio Times.
The third installment of the period fiction premiered its first four episodes on May 16 and, once again, captivated the public. According to Variety, in its first four days it achieved 165.2 million hours of viewing. Coughlan also already has a next job offer in his hands.
This is a drama and suspense film. love and war. The story is based on real events and tells the struggle of Sarah O’Meara, an Irish woman who in 2011 traveled to Syria to rescue her daughter kidnapped by her father, in the middle of the civil war.
In retrospect, Nicola Coughlan He is aware that his twenties were a constant battle, but it also had its advantages as it allowed him to face the pressure of the spotlight with maturity. “It’s very hard not to be doing what you want so badly,” she commented in an interview. “But I think experiencing fame back then would have been hell, so I wouldn’t change anything.”
