Nicola Coughlan. Andrea Renault/AFP/Getty
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, which is known for its nudity.
Coughlan took the remark in stride and quipped, “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.”
“I am a very proud member of the perfect breasts community, and I hope you enjoy seeing them,” the actress continued to raucous applause and laughter from the audience assembled at the Light House Cinema, per a video shared via X.
her pout at the beginning 😭 pic.twitter.com/dinBsi5acR
— bel (@ccutiny) June 6, 2024
Coughlan, 37, said she found filming the show’s nude and sex scenes “empowering” in a Q&A before a special preview of Bridgerton season 3, part 2, per the Irish Times. However, she isn’t looking forward to her family watching her steamy scenes with Luke Newton — who plays Penelope’s love interest, Colin Bridgerton — in the new episodes.
“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 said ahead of a screening of episode 5.
Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington and Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton. Liam Daniel/Netflix
“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. A bit of Irish style, when I’m back home, let’s just forget that moment,” Coughlan added.
Coughlan recently revealed that she asked to be “very naked” on camera in season 3 in response to negative comments about her body.
Bridgerton fans asked for steamy scenes between Colin and Penelope — and Netflix delivered exactly that. During the first half of the third season, which started streaming on Thursday, May 16, Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) found themselves moving from friends to lovers. Even though Penelope started the season out in the search […]
“I specifically asked for certain lines and moments to be included,” Coughlan told the U.K.’s Stylist magazine. “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–k you’ to all the conversation surrounding my body; it was amazingly empowering.”
“I felt beautiful in the moment,” she added. “And I thought, ‘When I’m 80, I want to look back on this and remember how f–king hot I looked!’”
Bridgerton season 3 part 2 premieres on Netflix on Thursday, June 13.