Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan has told how she went from being a relative unknown to enjoying huge fame in just a few months thanks to the TV series.
The 34-year-old actress, who plays Penelope Featherington, said filming finished just before lockdown began and she went to stay with her parents in Galway afterwards.
Bridgerton aired at Christmas, becoming Netflix’s most watched series, with 82 million households viewing the show worldwide, and Coughlan’s fame soared as she helped her parents with chores at home.
Citing her Instagram account as a measure of how her profile increased, she said: “I went from 200,000 followers to 1.2 million overnight, which is just ridiculous.
“Drew Barrymore and Sarah Jessica Parker now follow me. That’s crazy. I’m posting a picture and I’m like, ‘What would Drew Barrymore think?’
“Eighty two million households is unfathomable, it’s surreal, and the only measure we have of it is online. A million followers on Instagram is a mad number of people.”
Coughlan was 30 when she got her acting break as Clare Devlin in Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls alongside Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Louisa Harland.
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