Nicola Coughlan Has Main Character Energy in "Big Mood"
Ahead of her debut as the romantic lead in season 3 of “Bridgerton,” the Irish actress shows her range playing Maggie, a writer with bipolar disorder.
The Irish actress Nicola Coughlan has made her mark on ensemble shows like “Derry Girls,” where she plays the anxious lesbian Clare, with the fervor of a near aneurysm. Her over-the-top facial expressions and line deliveries are part of what make the show, a slapstick comedy about teenagers growing up amid the Troubles in Northern Ireland, such a gem.
In “Bridgerton,” Coughlan plays the down-on-her-luck wallflower Penelope Fetherington, with a secret of her own. Each season of the hit Netflix show showcases the often-steamy courtship of each of the seven Bridgerton children. (I also wrote about season 2 at the time of its release.) The media is abuzz with the impending release of season 3, in which Coughlan, along with Luke Newton, who plays Colin Bridgerton, will play a romantic lead. In the book series, we see Penelope get a major glow-up in Colin’s book, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, the basis for season 3. Colin has always seen Penelope as a friend, though she’s long held a candle for him. What will it take for the nature of their relationship to change? With the new season premiering May 16, the Bridgerton-industrial-complex has taken shape. Videos abound on social media of Coughlan and Newton on the red carpet, flirtily answering questions at press junkets.
Coughlan’s moment in the spotlight is refreshing. As a curvier actress, she abuts the Hollywood stereotype of a romantic lead. Unlike how she might have been portrayed in the early 2000s, when I was growing up, when actors were brutally stigmatized by the media and public if they weren’t skeletally skinny, Coughlan’s characters in “Derry Girls” and “Bridgerton” have not been the butt of any offensive jokes related to her body. This hasn’t always been the case: after a reviewer for a theater production she starred in in 2018 referred to her as an “overweight little girl,” Coughlan penned a Guardian article that argued that not only are negative descriptions of her body offensive, but they also reduce her work as an actor. She has since specifically asked fans not to comment on her body, despite reporters frequently bringing up her size.
Coughlan’s appearance on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar confirms her ascent to stardom. In the cover story, she writes, “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.”
After facing too much abuse online, Coughlan deleted her Twitter, “the closest I will ever get to the feeling of escaping a cult.” However, she still posts to Instagram, lending her voice to important and not uncontroversial causes. (She is a vocal proponent of Palestinian rights and has posted frequently condemning the ongoing genocide in Gaza. There is a long history of Irish solidarity with Palestine, which is not surprising given its history).
Beyond Bridgerton, Coughlan’s first major starring role came earlier this year, in the miniseries “Big Mood,” which airs on Tubi, a free streaming platform. Over six episodes, the first season of the show follows Coughlan as Maggie, and her best friend Eddie, played by Lydia West. Though the show is lighthearted and funny in many parts, the themes are heavy. Maggie’s struggles with bipolar disorder, and throughout the six episodes we see her character unravel further, while trying to be there for her friend and succeed as a writer. Eddie, for her part, has inherited a struggling bar from her father who passed away, which her brother is threatening to sell. I am, of course, a sucker for any show about female friendship, and “Big Mood” was no exception.
Despite the serious subject matter, as in “Derry Girls” the blend of humor and seriousness works. There are a lot of influences I saw while watching. In the first few episodes especially, it reminded me of a British “Broad City”-- two ridiculous friends getting into zany, sometimes surreal adventures through their often absurd decision-making, and with a deep love and loyalty between them. In the first episode, Maggie drags Eddie to her high school, where she claims she’s been asked to speak about her work as a writer (in reality, we learn through flashback, Maggie called the school and asked to be showcased). But the real reason she’s there is to find her old teacher who she had a crush on. Things do not unfold as planned. In another hilarious predicament, Maggie and Eddie find themselves at a pagan witch meetup.
Coughlan is close with the show’s writer, Camilla Whitehall, and their friendship certainly reflects in the show. In a recent Instagram post, Coughlan writes “In 2008 I met a girl called Camilla Whitehill at drama school and thought she was one of the funniest, cleverest, best people I’d ever met. We made each other laugh doing improv comedy and she quickly became one of the most important people in my life.”
Commentary on millennials in their 20s and early 30s abounds in the show with so many zany one-liners. “Maybe once I have a Le Crueset my life will turn around,” Maggie sighs at one point. The edgy Eddie is just as funny. “Some people spend their twenties starting a family. Some people spend them on ketamine. Both are valid choices,” she says. There are hilarious details, too – as an example, Maggie’s Uber account has been disabled due to “excessive vomitings.”
As the show digs deeper, Coughlan makes both the mania and the depressive episodes believable and sympathetic, while also not letting her off the hook for her actions. (Some of Eddie’s plotlines feel less developed). The show calls to mind Aisling Bea’s excellent “This Way Up,” which focuses on Aine, as she reenters life after a stint in a mental hospital, with her practical sister Shona, played by Sharon Horgan (!) trying to reel her in. While dealing with serious mental health topics, it was also laugh-out-loud funny. Of course, “Fleabag” is also an influence, and it’s even referenced in the show itself. Maggie’s downward spiral reminded me of “Everything I Know About Love,” the British Peacock series based on Dolly Alderton’s memoir of the same name, which also focuses on a pair of best friends growing apart. On the other side of the pond, there were definite “Single Drunk Female” vibes as well.
Though the show is not without flaws, and I felt needed more time to develop its characters and plotlines, it did a good job of portraying bipolar disorder, while also not making it the entirety of Maggie’s character, but rather a part of who she is that she and those around her must contend with. I did have a few questions about her psychiatric treatment, and wanted to know more about her journey when originally diagnosed and how she wound up taking lithium in the first place. But the last episode leaves things in a place that feels poised for a second season, and I hope we get to see it.
The series shows Coughlan's range both as a comedic and dramatic actress, and I wish more people would see it– unfortunately Tubi doesn’t have quite the caché as Netflix, and few will likely track it down, though it is free to watch. I’m excited to see this season of Bridgerton, where we’ll see her in yet another type of role, and many more to come.
What I’m Watching: Okay, confession time: In these trying times, I’ve become fully addicted to HGTV’s “House Hunters International.” My friends know that I’ve been obsessed with StreetEasy and Zillow for years, so I don’t know why it took so long for me to discover this show, which fully indulges whatever escapist fantasy I’m clinging to at the moment. First of all, everything is *so cheap* compared to where I’m from and live. Even like, London is cheaper! I could buy a French villa for $200k! Each episode is a tidy 21 minutes, has a happy ending, and is so repetitive it’s like a lullaby, lulling you to sleep.