Nicola Coughlan Reveals One Family Member Was 'So Mad' at Her for Stripping to DoBridgertonSex Scenes

Mar. 15, 2025

Nicola Coughlan.Photo:LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty

LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty

Nicola Coughlan’s steamyBridgertonscenes didn’t have one family member’s seal of approval.The 37-year-old actress reportedly revealed on the Dec. 13 episode ofThe Graham Norton Showthat her Irish mother wasn’t too happy with her when she saw her “sexy” scenes in the hit Netflix romance series.“My mother was so mad at me about those scenes — as if they were my fault, so I didn’t go to the screening with her,” she said, per theLondon Evening Standard.Coughlan — who rose to fame for playing high school student Clare Devlin in Netflix’sDerry Girls— also shared that she “realized” during filming forBridgerton’s latest season that it was the first time she was playing a more mature character.“I realized I was 35 when I was filming the season, and I’d never played an adult. I was like, ‘How do I do this?’ ” she explained. “[In] the first two [Bridgerton] series, I looked a lot likeSpongebob Squarepants, very curly, ginger [hair], yellow dress, sort a of a tent situation going on.”“But then it was weird having to play the romantic lead and then knowing it was all because — it’s a sexy show,” Coughlan continued.  “A lot of sexy things happen in it, and then I realized I was going to have to do the sexy things and I was like, ‘Right.’ ”While the actress shared ahead of the premiere of the third season ofBridgertonthat it was"terrifying” taking the lead, she eventually eased into it and eventook over some creative controlwhen it came to her intimacy scenes.Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan in a ‘Bridgerton’ scene.Liam Daniel/Netflix"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,”  she toldStylistin May. “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!’ “Coughlan added that she felt “great” about the nudity “because not only did I consent to it but I drove it.“She previously told PEOPLE that the"intimacy stuff feels very real” in the new season, saying, “[The characters] get to be intimate together in a very real and beautiful way, and I think that’s what makes it so affecting.”“In those intimate moments, they find moments to laugh and you see them figuring it out and doing it together, and I love it,” she added.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Bridgertonseason 3 is streaming now on Netflix.

Nicola Coughlan’s steamyBridgertonscenes didn’t have one family member’s seal of approval.

The 37-year-old actress reportedly revealed on the Dec. 13 episode ofThe Graham Norton Showthat her Irish mother wasn’t too happy with her when she saw her “sexy” scenes in the hit Netflix romance series.

“My mother was so mad at me about those scenes — as if they were my fault, so I didn’t go to the screening with her,” she said, per theLondon Evening Standard.

Coughlan — who rose to fame for playing high school student Clare Devlin in Netflix’sDerry Girls— also shared that she “realized” during filming forBridgerton’s latest season that it was the first time she was playing a more mature character.

“I realized I was 35 when I was filming the season, and I’d never played an adult. I was like, ‘How do I do this?’ ” she explained. “[In] the first two [Bridgerton] series, I looked a lot likeSpongebob Squarepants, very curly, ginger [hair], yellow dress, sort a of a tent situation going on.”

“But then it was weird having to play the romantic lead and then knowing it was all because — it’s a sexy show,” Coughlan continued.  “A lot of sexy things happen in it, and then I realized I was going to have to do the sexy things and I was like, ‘Right.’ ”

While the actress shared ahead of the premiere of the third season ofBridgertonthat it was"terrifying” taking the lead, she eventually eased into it and eventook over some creative controlwhen it came to her intimacy scenes.

Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan in a ‘Bridgerton’ scene.Liam Daniel/Netflix

Liam Daniel/Netflix

“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,”  she toldStylistin May. “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!’ "

Coughlan added that she felt “great” about the nudity “because not only did I consent to it but I drove it.”

She previously told PEOPLE that the"intimacy stuff feels very real” in the new season, saying, “[The characters] get to be intimate together in a very real and beautiful way, and I think that’s what makes it so affecting.”

“In those intimate moments, they find moments to laugh and you see them figuring it out and doing it together, and I love it,” she added.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Bridgertonseason 3 is streaming now on Netflix.

source: people.com