Nicola Coughlan: ‘It’s Important To Give Yourself The Odd Reality Check’

‘I don’t often think of myself as a main character,’ says Nicola Coughlan. And that’s funny. Because to her day-one Derry Girls fans (Coughlan first gained fame playing angst-ridden Clare Devlin in Channel 4’s hit sitcom) and Bridgerton stans who championed Coughlan’s rise to leading lady in the Netflix blockbuster’s third and most-watched season to date, that’s exactly who she is. Coughlan is referring to the tagline of her new partnership with Neutrogena – ‘main character energy’. ‘To me it’s all about self-belief,’ she says, ‘women can be so apologetic about themselves. Main character energy is about hushing that voice and going you can be determined and ambitious and be proud of that. Men wouldn’t feel bad about it, so we shouldn’t either.’

Coughlan’s words are straight to the point and galvanising, the delivery all melodic Irish lilt. She’s speaking to me on Zoom from her East London home, glowing skin, low bun, glinting gold earrings and crisp white shirt. She’d be the picture of minimalism were it not for the artfully curated dresser behind her, teeming with multicoloured candles and lush house plants. ‘It belonged to my mum,’ she looks back at it fondly, ‘she gave it to me when I bought my house, it’s from the 1950s and I grew up with it.’

For all her leading lady, red carpet regular, beauty campaign star status, there’s an unaffectedness to Coughlan, 38, that transcends her celebrity. She likes to keep things simple, especially when it comes to skincare. ‘I have always believed that skincare shouldn’t have to be this complicated 20-step thing that costs thousands of pounds. I’m very focused on science-backed ingredients, formulas that are going to boost my skin’s collagen production, that sort of thing. What’s the point of a £100 cream that does nothing?’

She’s the beauty authority in her close-knit group of friends and when you consider she counts Queer Eye’s hair and grooming guru Jonathan Van Ness among their number, that’s saying something. ‘I warn them to steer clear of trending products or brands they’ve never heard of on TikTok,’ she says, ‘and I never go to sleep with my make-up on.’ Well, almost never. ‘I occasionally make the mistake of not taking it off on set. I get home after a two-hour drive and think yeah, no.’

So Coughlan isn’t infallible it turns out. Nor is she immune to the odd insecurity. ‘As a woman there’s always something new that you should suddenly be self-conscious about. I remember, as a teenager, being obsessed with my forehead. I thought it was so ugly and vowed to get forehead reduction surgery when I was older. But I cannot imagine growing up with the [social media] beauty standards we have today,’ says Coughlan. ‘Sometimes I’m like, how am I not that person? Why am I not doing yogalates and drinking green smoothies? But I just have to remind myself that it’s not real. It’s about being nice to yourself. No one’s perfect.’

Tell that to Coughlan’s 6.2m Instagram followers who like and laud her red carpet recaps and behind-the-scenes Bridgerton snapshots daily. ‘One of the biggest things I’ve gleaned from working with so many beauty pros on the set of Bridgerton is that it’s important to give yourself the odd reality check.’ Like its wisteria-laden depiction of London, the Bridgerton look is romanticised to otherworldly degrees. ‘Everyone looks flawless, but of course we do! We get our make-up checked every three minutes, our hair is reset constantly.’ The same goes for the red carpet. ‘What you see is the work of a team of professionals. It’s a fantasy.’

Currently busy filming, how does she like to unwind? ‘I’m very boring,’ she says, ‘if I have time on a Sunday I like to clean the house, get stuff organised and have a bath, it’s nice.’ And necessary. ‘As women I think we struggle to take the time to switch off and treat ourselves sometimes, but we all need to recharge.’ Take it from Coughlan.

Nicola's Non-Negotiables