Nicola Coughlan on Bridgerton: 'I love how romantic those scenes feel'
Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington in the new series of Bridgerton.
Irish actress Nicola Coughlan is about to become front and centre of one of the biggest TV shows on the planet. Series three of Bridgerton centres on Penelope Featherington’s determination to find a hubby, having given up on her long-held crush on her friend Colin Bridgerton.
The shy Penelope’s early efforts to flirt fail spectacularly - but as Colin helps his pal gain confidence, they have to decide whether they make the leap from friends to lovers. Are we about to witness the most romantic Bridgerton series yet?
“A lot of people, what they love about Bridgerton are the steamy scenes,” says the Galway star. “But I think even in those scenes, as sexy as they are, they're still really romantic and touching and intimate and I love how romantic those scenes feel.”
The show sees Coughlan’s Penelope take a nothing to lose approach in which the path to true love does not run smoothly.
“It's brilliantly written in that it's something directly from the books, that she asks him to kiss her,” says Coughlan of her potential romantic breakthrough. “It's really difficult to play that because I think a lot of people are like: ‘Why would you ask?’ But you have to understand in that moment, she thinks she's lost everything. She's embarrassed herself in front of society. No one's gonna marry her. She's stuck with her mum and sisters forever.
“The man she loves doesn't love her. So she's like: ‘I’ve got nothing to lose’. In that moment, it's so sad because they kiss, they obviously have this connection, but she goes: ‘I’ve just embarrassed myself. I'm gonna just leave’. And he then goes: ‘Oh, there's something there!’”
Fans will have to tune in to see whether the friends-to-lovers storyline will lead to a happy outcome, but Coughlan had fun with playing the hopeless romantic who pretends she’s done with love.
“It's such a funny thing because when you meet her she is in this mode of: ‘This love thing is not going to work out for me. Actually, I don't even care about it’.
“But you know that that's not her because we've known her for two seasons already, in which she's this hopeless romantic. She's completely driven by love in every way. So it's interesting to play that conflict of her and both her and Colin in the beginning of the season really trying to be people that they're not at all.
“There are a lot of intense scenes for lots of different reasons. There are some that are purely stamina, like the dance routines that we would sometimes shoot at like two in the morning. The intimate scenes of course are intimidating to do for a different reason. And then any scenes with conflict can be difficult because I think we're both quite sensitive souls.”
Coughlan's co-star Luke Newton says that this season leans into some of the key moments from the Bridgerton books. “I think we really love the moments from the books. I thought it was beautifully done how Jess (showrunner Jess Brownell) has incorporated them into the show. The response we've had from the fans is they're really iconic moments from the book. It was a really beautiful moment on set to be able to do them justice and I think the fans will be really excited to see those bits.”
Bridgerton is the second global TV hit that Coughlan has starred in, following her role as Clare Devlin in the much-loved Derry Girls. That show marked a huge career turnaround for the Galwegian. But she credits a theatre role as helping to drive her TV breakthroughs. It was a part in the play Jess and Joe Forever that earned strong word of mouth and led to her getting an agent, she says now.
“I think it's the best training ground you can have because it's like you're completely exposed in theatre. There's no clever editing. There's no way of just focusing in on a micro expression,” she says.
“I did an open audition and got a play called Jess and Joe Forever and from that play I signed with my agent. My first audition with my agent was Derry Girls and then from Derry Girls came Bridgerton and that was the thing that switched everything around for me.”
- The new series of Bridgerton Part One debuts on Netflix on Thursday, May 16. Part Two comes to Netflix on June 13. www.netflix.com/Bridgerton
There’s a Cannes-do attitude among the Irish filmmaking community as this year’s Cannes Film Festival approaches. The biggest and most glamorous contest on the festival circuit features several films of Irish interest this year - with some of them competing for the prestigious festival’s most-coveted prizes.
All eyes will be on Cannes’ famous seaside boulevard La Croisette when Yorgos Lanthimos hosts the world premiere of his latest film, Kinds of Kindness.
The Greek director of films including Kerry-filmed The Lobster, The Favourite and this year’s Poor Things has made all of his English-language films in collaboration with Irish company Element Pictures.
Poor Things stars Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe return to work with Lanthimos on Kinds of Kindness, an anthology film which has been selected to compete in the prolific main competition.
It’s one of three Element Pictures productions having world premieres at Cannes this year. They will also debut September Says, the directorial debut from French actress Ariane Labed which was filmed on location here and is backed by Screen Ireland. The film is an adaptation of the novel Sisters by Daisy Johnson.
Element will also bring On Becoming a Guinea Fowl to the French festival. Zambian/British director Rungano Nyoni’s film was shot in Zambia with post-production work carried out in Ireland.
The Apprentice, directed by Ali Abassi, charting a young Donald Trump’s ascent to power, also comes to Cannes. The film is a Canadian/Irish/Danish co-production.
The latest film from Irish director Lorcan Finnegan and starring Nicolas Cage will have its world premiere. Psychological thriller The Surfer tells of a man who returns to his beach side hometown in Australia, to discover a local gang of surfers claiming strict ownership over the secluded beach of his childhood.
High-profile Irish talent will feature both in front of and behind the camera in the latest film from director Andrea Arnold (Fishtank). Bird will star top Dublin actor Barry Keoghan, with cinematography from Irish lensman Robbie Ryan.
- The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 14-25
