Nicola Coughlan said she has little interest in being positioned as a body-positivity advocate, even going so far as to say she wanted “to die” after a drunk girl in a bathroom commented on her physical appearance rather than her work, calling it “so f—king boring.”
The “Bridgerton” star told Elle UK, in an interview published Wednesday, that while she understands why some people see her that way, it’s not something she personally identifies with.
“The thing I say sometimes that pisses people off is I have no interest in body positivity,” the “Derry Girls” star said emphatically. “When I was a kid growing up, I never thought about that. I didn’t look at actors and think about their bodies. So, I actually don’t care, There’s a lot of things I’m passionate about, it’s not one of them … That’s someone else’s thing. It’s not mine.”
Despite distancing herself from the label, Coughlan has still had to contend with public commentary about her appearance — particularly following nude scenes in “Bridgerton” after she headlined Season 3’s central story arc as Penelope Featherington.
Coughlan also noted that the public reaction often felt disconnected from reality. While filming the series, she said she had been exercising frequently and had lost weight.
“You know what was really bizarre was, when I was shooting that series, I was exercising a lot because I knew I had to, so I had lost a bunch of weight – I was probably a size 10 and one of the corsets was a size 8,” she said. “And then people talked about how I was plus size and I was like, ‘How f–ked are we that I am the biggest woman you want to see on screen?’”
Still, she said the focus on her body can overshadow the work she puts into her performances — something she finds frustrating.
“I remember this really drunk girl once talking to me in a bathroom being like, ‘I loved “Bridgerton” because of your body,’” Coughlan recalled. “And started talking about my body, and I was like, ‘I want to die. I hate this so much…’”
For Coughlan, the fixation on appearance can feel reductive after months of work on a project.
She added: “It’s really hard when you work on something for months and months of your life, you don’t see your family, you really dedicate yourself and then it comes down to what you look like – it’s so f–king boring.” Coughlan is best known for playing Penelope Featherington — secretly the sharp-tongued gossip columnist Lady Whistledown — on Netflix’s hit period drama “Bridgerton.” The series, produced by Shondaland and based on the novels by Julia Quinn, has been one of the streamer’s biggest global hits since premiering in 2020. Coughlan took center stage in the show’s third season, which followed Penelope’s long-simmering romance with Colin Bridgerton and marked the actress’ first time leading the series after spending the first two seasons as a breakout supporting actress.
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