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Bridgerton actress Nicola Coughlan candidly discusses the impact of body-shaming remarks.
“It was quite peculiar because, during the filming, I was working out frequently since I needed to,” Coughlan, 39, shared with Elle UK in a profile published on Wednesday, March 4, when questioned about her nude scenes. “I had shed a significant amount of weight, reaching about a size 10, and one of the corsets was a size 8.”
She continued, “Then there was this narrative about me being plus-size, and I thought, ‘This is crazy if I’m the largest woman you expect to see on screen.’”
Coughlan portrays Penelope Bridgerton (formerly Featherington) in Netflix’s Bridgerton. She took center stage in season 3, which delved into Penelope’s romantic journey with Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) while her career flourished as the secretive gossip writer Lady Whistledown.
Addressing speculation about her appearance on the show, Coughlan clarified misconceptions. “I noticed some online critics claimed, ‘They photoshopped your waist,’ and I responded, ‘Absolutely not,’” Coughlan, 37, explained in an interview with People released on Wednesday, June 12. Season 3 of the period drama continues to captivate viewers…
Despite criticism of her body, the actress has also inspired another cohort of fans.
“I remember this really drunk girl once talking to me in a bathroom being like, ‘I loved [Bridgerton] because of your body,’ and started talking about my body,” Coughlan recalled to the outlet. “I was like, ‘I want to die. I hate this so much.’ 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***ing boring.”
Coughlan has long been a fierce body positive advocate, even requesting her nude scene in Bridgerton.
Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton and Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Bridgerton in season 4. Liam Daniel/Netflix
“I specifically asked for certain lines and moments to be included,” she told Stylist magazine in May 2024. “There’s one scene where I’m very naked on camera, and that was my idea, my choice. It just felt like the biggest ‘f*** you’ to all the conversation surrounding my body. It was amazingly empowering.”
According to Coughlan, she “felt beautiful” in the moment.
“I thought, ‘When I’m 80, I want to look back on this and remember how f***ing hot I looked!’” she quipped to the magazine.
Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan is a proud member of the “perfect breasts community.” The Irish actress had a hilarious — and cheeky — response to a comment about her body at a Friday, June 6, fan screening in Dublin, Ireland, after being told she is “very brave” to play Penelope Featherington in the Regency period drama, […]
Weeks later, Coughlan once again praised the show’s inclusion of her nude scene.
“You know, it is hard, ’cause I think women with my body type — women with perfect breasts — we do not get to see ourselves onscreen enough,” she joked during a June 2024 panel conversation. “I am a very proud member of the perfect breasts community, and I hope you enjoy seeing them.”
Coughlan reprised her role on Bridgerton season 4, which returned to Netflix last month.