Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan discusses ‘scrutiny’ she faces
Nicola Coughlan has been opening up about life in the limelight.
The Bridgerton actress, who will soon be reprising her role as Penelope Featherington in season three of the hit Netflix show, has shared an insight into the struggles she faces since finding fame.
Admitting that she’s ‘terrified of scrutiny’, Nicola revealed it ‘isn’t easy’ and discussed the impact social media had on her when she was filming Derry Girls.
While writing the cover story for Harper's Bazaar, the 37-year-old reflected on her roles since becoming an actress and explained, “When I look back at my life over the last few years, it’s hard to fathom how much it’s changed”.
“But one part of doing this job I love is stepping into the spotlight and shouting from the rooftops about how proud I am to be part of this thing, and how much it would mean for the world to love it as much as I do! And with this comes scrutiny. So much scrutiny”.
“As much as I love what I do, all the scrutiny isn’t easy, and fame is a very strange consequence of doing my job. It’s wild to me that we film a show in a warehouse in West London and if I go to Brazil or Australia or Texas, people recognise me".
Nicola then shared how ‘wild’ it is that people across the globe recognise her and confessed, “I have so much love and respect for the fans of things I’ve done – I want them to know that I feel grateful – but it is difficult to navigate being online when people throw their opinions of you at you like grenades”.
“I remember back in the early days of Derry Girls when I had a Twitter account and I used to interact a lot with fans and foes. “I’m fine!” I thought. “It’s totally normal to get this much abuse day today and function as a mentally well-adjusted human being!””.
She continued, “Leaving Twitter is the closest I will ever get to the feeling of escaping a cult. “We thought it was normal to live like this? How wrong we were!””.
The Big Mood star went on to say, “Yes, I’m terrified of the scrutiny, the opinions, the number of eyes on me; but, ultimately, the thing that’s making me step out of the shadows, even though it terrifies me, is that I’m so proud of the work I’ve done, the people I’ve worked with and these beautiful shows we’ve made”.
“I hope I can show the world, along with myself, that sometimes the oddball in the corner can take centre-stage”.
