Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan gave a hilarious response to a fan who praised her for filming nude scenes.
The actor, 37, candidly addressed a remark about her body during a recent screening of Bridgerton season three, part two, at the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin, Ireland. During a Q&A session at the screening, one fan told her she was “very brave” for filming nude scenes in season three of the Regency-era drama, which is centered on her character Penelope Featherington’s romance with Colin Bridgerton, played by Luke Newtown.
In response to the fan’s remark, Coughlan poked fun at why she had the bravery to film those nude scenes.
“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 quipped at the screening, as shown in a video shared to X.
She went on to hilariously praise her appearance and how it’s shown on the Netflix program, adding: “I am a proud member of the perfect breasts community, and I hope you enjoy seeing them.”
During the Q&A session at the screening in Dublin, she also acknowledged that she is a little nervous about her family watching the new episodes of Bridgerton because of the sex scenes she’s in.
“It’s a lot, my sister is here tonight and she was all brave and hard. I was like maybe just close your eyes for a bit, there’s nothing I can do. They’ve really masterminded this in order to watch these scenes, this is the most intense one, I would say probably,” she explained, as reported by The Irish Times.
Coughlan also shared that when her family, including her parents, watch the sex scenes in the new episodes of the show, she won’t be there for it.
“I think, you know what we’re going to do? I’ll let them watch it, I won’t be there, and then afterwards we’ll just pretend it never happened, a nice bit of denial, do you know what? A bit of Irish style, when I’m back home, let’s just forget that moment,” she said.
The Derry Girls alum has previously opened up about filming intimate scenes for the show, explaining why she requested to be “very naked” in the show. In an interview with Stylist in May, she also spoke about her work with Bridgerton’s intimacy coordinator, Lizzy Talbot, on this season’s sex scenes.
“I specifically asked for certain lines and moments to be included,” Coughlan said. “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. I felt beautiful in the moment, and I thought: ‘When I’m 80, I want to look back on this and remember how f***ing hot I looked!’”
In 2022, the actor also posted a message on Instagram asking her fans to stop sharing their opinions about her body. “Most people are being nice and not trying to be offensive, but I am just one real-life human being, and it’s really hard to take the weight of thousands of opinions on how you look being sent directly to you every day,” she wrote.
“If you have an opinion about me, that’s OK, I understand I’m on TV and that people will have things to think and say, but I beg you not to send it to me directly,” she added.
In a later interview with The Irish Times, she once again hit back at critics who make comments about her appearance, as she continues her career in Hollywood.
“All I care about is the work. Bodies change, if I lose weight, or gain weight, or I do anything, it’s no one’s business. All I care about is doing good acting and being judged on that,” Coughlan said.
