Nicola Coughlan is an Irish actress currently starring as ‘Penelope Featherington’ in Netflix’s smash-hit Bridgerton. Originally from County Galway, Nicola trained at the Oxford School of Drama and Birmingham School of Acting. Her breakthrough role came in 2018 with the hit Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls as ‘Clare Devlin.’ It was one of Channel 4’s most successful comedies with over two million people watching each episode. It has since been re-released on Netflix and gained international popularity.

Appearing as a supporting role in the first two seasons, Nicola’s character of ‘Penelope’ is the main protagonist of the third season of Bridgerton. Despite its release just last month, season 3 viewership has already surpassed all seasons released on Netflix in the last year. So far, the series has spent 6 weeks in the global Top 10 rankings and has accumulated more than 133.4 million views.  

Nicola also stars in Love And War and The Magic Faraway Tree, opposite Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy.

Nicola starred in the Channel 4 and TUBI original comedy series Big Mood, opposite Lydia West. It ranks among Channel 4’s Top 3 comedy series. The series was licensed to Netflix and, since their reporting of Top 10 rankings, has hit the Top 10 rankings in 10 countries and spent 54 unique days in their Top 10 rankings.

She also starred in the British comedy Seize Them! opposite Aimee Lou Wood, Nick Frost, and James Acaster. The film was released in the UK on April 5th and has been called an “entertaining, female-centered comedy enlivened by winning performances.”

Nicola made her West End debut in The Donmar Warehouse’s production of The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, in which the Evening Standard named her one of the Rising Stars of 2018.

Additional screen credits include Greta Gerwig’s box office mega-success Barbie, Hulu’s Harlots, and BBC One’s Dodger.