Nicola Coughlan’s new series is the best mix of everything you love from the Irish actress so far. A laugh-out-loud comedy mixed with some major emotional moments that may or may not make you sob. This is basically her tour de force—an all-in-one series that feels like the ultimate mix of Nicola’s two big series: the dramatic Bridgerton and the hilarious Derry Girls—and it totally helps that she got to do it with one of her BFFs in the forefront: Camilla Whitehill, who is also the show’s creator and showrunner.
“We’ve been friends for about 15 years, we met at drama school. When I met her she just struck me as one of the funniest people ever. She was so clever and sharp, and we laughed at all the same things. Then, we went through our 20s together and all of the ups and downs of that. I’ve always wanted us to get to work together but I didn’t know if it was ever going to happen, and it’s just incredible that it’s happening and it’s this project that I feel has come at the right time,” Nicola exclusively told Cosmopolitan.
That project? Big Mood—a hearty and hilarious series that touches upon a years-long friendship and what happens when Maggie’s bipolar disorder seems to affect her in full force. It feels fitting that a project about two BFFs is what is finally bringing them together professionally on the small screen.
“We’re both at a stage where we really know the work we want to make. It felt like a very natural progression. We worked together on a podcast called “Whistle Through The Shamrocks,” which was very silly and fun and it showed we had a really good working relationship, but Big Mood is something much deeper in the subject matter, and it just made it extra special. I think that’s what makes me so invested in this show, and I can’t wait for people to see it,” she continued.
“I really wanted to play the raw side of Maggie as raw as possible. If she’s very depressed and low, I didn’t want a TV version of that, I wanted to have a real version of that where she’s very stripped back. If there’s greasy hair, then the hair is really greasy. If there’s no makeup then there’s really no makeup, not even a light beat. It was incredibly challenging this role. It gave me faith in myself because I think I worried I wouldn’t be able to pull off the journey she goes on because she goes to every place imaginable,” Nicola revealed. “She has really high highs and really low lows, and I think especially as you watch through the series, you’ll see how dark it gets, and I was worried that I couldn’t do that. I think partly having very little time to think about that was good, so it’s made me maybe not doubt myself as much as I normally would.”
To add to the pressure, Nicola noted that filming took only seven weeks, half of what it takes to film Bridgerton. But it helped, “relying on the script and trusting it because when you read it, Maggie’s journey was very clear and very perfectly balanced out.”
“I relied really heavily on Camilla as a showrunner and Rebecca Asher as a director especially, for example, when doing things like jumping from episode 3 to episode 1 during filming and Maggie is in totally different states of mind,” she said. “Having people like that on set to guide you through just made it so, so important. I also think ultimately, something that was really important was keeping Maggie funny even in her darkest moments and remembering it was a comedy and keeping that throughout.”
It helps to have your best friend on your side for a project like this one, especially one that she’s been waiting so long to do. Nicola points out, “This show is mine and Camilla’s baby. It’s the show I’ve always dreamed of making.”
“I used to watch shows like Girls and Broad City and Fleabag and I thought gosh I really want to make a show like that that just feels true and funny and sharp,” she said. “When I watched this back for the first time, I just thought, Ahh, we’ve made exactly what we’ve wanted to make. I hope it makes people laugh. I hope it makes people feel seen. I couldn’t be more proud of it, and I can’t wait to share it with the world.”
Cosmopolitan
Written by Tamara Fuentes
Published March 27, 2024
