Nicola Coughlan Says She's Been 'Very Lucky' to Work with So Many Women in Her Career

Lady Whistledown is one of the girls, even behind the scenes.

Nicola Coughlan spoke about her genuine enjoyment when it comes to sharing the screen with other women, calling it “different” from working with men. 

"I really have worked with a lot of women. Derry Girls was predominantly women. Bridgerton, predominantly women. I think women just get my vibe. I'm a girls girl,” Coughlan, 37, said during a post-screening panel at the premiere of Big Mood, held at the Whitby Hotel in New York City on April 4.

“I'm like, 'Yay, let me work with you,'" she added. "So, I've actually been very lucky.”

Comparing her work with other women to being on set with men, Coughlan said it’s not necessarily worse. “I worked with men recently, actually,” she said before jokingly continuing, “I am someone who has worked with men. It's very brave of me to say, but I have."

On a more serious note, the Irish actress said: "But it is a different experience and it's lovely. It's just different. It's not as lovely as working with women."

Coughlan leads the upcoming season 3 of Bridgerton, starring as Penelope Featherington — a wallflower with a knack for writing the ton’s latest gossip. The character has had a longstanding crush on friend Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), and a love story is expected to unfold between the pair, even in the unlikeliest of circumstances. 

As romance-centric as Bridgerton is, the show also offers discourse on female friendships — especially in a time of the man-led household. Coughlan’s main storyline until this point has been that of her friendship with Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie), which saw a major falling out at the end of season 2. 

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While filming Bridgerton season 3, Coughlan also shifted her focus to Big Mood — a comedy series in which Coughlan plays a character with Bipolar disorder.

"I didn't have a lot of time to prepare because I was still in Bridgerton for half of this. So I was doing one on the week and one on the weekends. So it was just learning my lines in the car kind of deal," she said during the panel of working on Big Mood, where she stars opposite Lydia West. "I mean, I did some research on Bipolar disorder. It would've been wild not to, but also knowing that the background of it, but also thinking I need to just make her a real person. ... She's a woman who, that is a fact of her life but it's not all of her."

Big Mood previously aired on Channel 4 in the UK and will soon be streaming on Tubi in America on April 19.