You already know Nicola Coughlan as the anxious and studious Clarie Devlin from Derry Girls. You’ve definitely come to love her as the not-so-innocent Penelope Featherington, who finally gets the main character treatment in Bridgerton Season 3. And come April 19, you’ll be fully invested in her newest character Maggie, a confident and messy playwright who deals with the highs and lows of bipolar disorder in Tubi’s Big Mood series.
“I am so proud of this show and how unflinching it is in its approach to mental illness,” she tells Wondermind. “And I hope that it will give people a new understanding of bipolar disorder. It certainly gave me a new understanding.”
Ahead of the Big Mood release and Bridgerton’s return on May 16, Coughlan talks about the challenge of filming both shows at the same time, what helps her when she’s feeling low, and embracing her anger.
WM: How are you doing lately?
Nicola Coughlan: I feel good. Thankfully I have been mega-busy promoting this show here and in the UK and in Ireland. I think as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized how much of a priority it has to be for me to make sure that mentally, physically, I’m doing well. Because if you don’t feel well in your mind, I think nothing else can go well for you. So I make sure to check in as much as I can.
WM: How did you prepare for the role of Maggie and decide how you’d like to portray her in Big Mood?
NC: It was a very daunting task. Even though it’s a comedy drama with lots of very funny bits and very dark bits, I was very cognizant of the fact that we never wanted to—and the writing was never like this—make people feel like they’re the butt of the joke. Maggie’s very funny and she’s very sharp, but none of the jokes are at the expense of her mental illness.
It was certainly challenging, but we had the most wonderful director, Rebecca Asher, who really guided me through it. We filmed the whole show in seven weeks, and we would jump from Episode 1, in which Maggie is manic, to Episode 3 when she’s very depressed. It’s hard to jump from one scene in one episode to another and another in general, but it was especially hard on this show, so it was making sure to chart the journey.
And also, I wanted to make sure that I played it without vanity. If it was a scene in which Maggie hadn’t showered in a few days and she was wearing crappy clothes, I didn’t want to wear any makeup. I let them put stuff in my hair to make it look greasy, and I wore the ill-fitting stuff and all of that. I felt like I would’ve been doing a disservice to the character in the script had I tried to look good or do it in that way.
WM: When you have new projects like Big Mood or Bridgerton, how do you tend to feel leading up to the release?
NC: It’s a funny one because I think we make stuff that you want to share with the world … you have such ownership of it and such love for it, and then you get really scared. It feels like your baby.
And both Big Mood and Bridgeton feel like that for me because I don’t think I’ve ever worked as hard as I did on both these shows, and I shot ’em at the same time for three weeks. They’re always linked in my brain, which seems silly because they’re so chalk and cheese, but they really do feel so connected to me.
But yeah, it’s scary when you’ve given your everything and there’s literally nothing more that you could have done. It’s scary to think if people criticize that. You’re like, Oh gosh, but I really did everything that I had. And if that’s not good enough… But I think you kind of have to just let go of it. And it’s also a beautiful thing handing it over to viewers or fans to go like, “It’s yours now. It’s your baby, and you have it. I hope that you take something from it and it leaves an impression on you or makes you laugh, makes you cry,” all of that stuff.
WM: That’s wild that you filmed both of them at the same time. What was it like switching between the two?
NC: It was hardcore. I would cry just from sheer exhaustion. When I was crying I was like, there’s nothing wrong with me per se, but I had no personality…
WM: What’s going on in your mind when you think about how your career has progressed and all the hype and attention you’ve received the past few years?
NC: I mean, it’s such a strange thing. Look, some people do get into the industry for fame and whatever, but I think that would be quite empty. I feel like fame or being in the public eye, however you want to call it, it’s a strange side effect of your job. I can’t imagine that being a driving force or something that I’d really want to aim for. I think I’ve kind of accepted it, but if someone said, “Tomorrow, all the fame will go away, but you still do your job,” I would say, “That’s fine because it’s not what’s important to me.”
I think deep down, at the root of it, something like Bridgerton blowing up in the way it did, the hundreds of millions of viewers that we’ve had around the world, it’s so mind-blowing. My tiny mind can’t ever fully comprehend that. But I think what’s always important to me is the work and a good script and good people. Those are the most important things to me. At the end of the day, I know why I am doing it. I know what I’m there for, and that’s I think what keeps me grounded.
WM: What does self-care look like for you when you’re filming versus when you’re not?
NC: When I started filming Bridgerton, it was an eight-month stint, and I took it really seriously. I was like how an athlete prepares. I was going to the gym, doing my sessions. I was doing therapy on Sunday. I would take a real rest day and go get a massage and do all that stuff. I was like, This is what I need to invest my money and my time in, because it’s so demanding to shoot something like that. And I was like, if I’m not in the best state I can be, it will drain me out. It’s draining anyhow.
And then going into Big Mood on the end of that and doing a very mentally challenging role—I think Maggie’s the most complex character I’ve ever played. That was difficult. But we were very lucky. We had a therapist on set if anyone needed because there’s issues in the show that are certainly triggering to people, and we’re really aware of that. So yeah, we had someone on set if we needed to speak to someone. They were always there. But you’ve got to take care of yourself.
WM: Maggie goes through periods of depression with her bipolar disorder, and you’ve been open about experiencing low periods in your personal life. What helps boost your mood when you’re feeling down?
NC: I really hate to say it because I don’t want to ever do it, but exercise helps me a lot. It’s annoying. It frustrates me. I have the most wonderful personal trainer, and every time that I go there, I always have to psych myself into going to the gym. But every time I do it, I leave and I feel so much better. I feel mentally lighter, and it is so vital for me. That does really help. Annoying. I wish it was something else!
WM: Are there any stigmas or misconceptions around mental health that tend to bug you the most?
NC: One thing that I found brilliant about this script is Maggie is someone who has bipolar disorder, and she is a fully rounded human being. She’s not a cipher for mental illness; this is just a part of who she is. Even in the moments where the show gets really dark and she’s dealing with horrific things, she still has her sense of humor. In the scene with her psychiatrist (played by the brilliant Sally Phillips), she is incredibly depressed, but she’s still making jokes. I think that’s vital to see.
There’s a lot of depictions of mental illness on screen that are so heightened, and they feel very other, and [mental conditions are] not other. People, if they know it or not, will know someone with bipolar disorder. I mean, it’s really sad, but the majority of adults at some point in their life will have experienced depression or anxiety. But I think this show very much normalizes it.
It’s funny because it wasn’t Camilla Whitehill’s aim when she wrote the show to open up a conversation about mental illness. But I think it does that, and it does it brilliantly because it’s not preaching, it’s not what she was trying to do. But a lot of people that have watched it have gone, “I didn’t know this about mania,” “I didn’t know this about antipsychotic drugs.”
WM: You mentioned that you’ve gone to therapy before. What’s one of the best lessons you’ve learned by talking to a professional?
NC: I think I’m an innate people-pleaser, and I don’t say that as I’m some sort of Mother Teresa or whatever. I am far from a perfect person. But we were talking one day about anger, and she said to me, “Do you get angry?” And I was like, “Not really. It’s very hard for me to get angry about something.” She said, “Well, you think that anger is a normal human emotion?” I was like, “Of course.” And she was like, “So you would have it in you?” I was like, “I guess.” So she’s like, “Well, where does it go? Where does the anger go?” It blew my mind. I was like, “Oh my goodness. Yeah, of course it must manifest in some other way.” That was a thing that really stuck with me.
WM: Have you found outlets for your anger since then?
NC: I struggle. I’ve tried to. I think, in life, we’re all always a work in progress. With anger, I am trying to teach myself to acknowledge that it’s just a human emotion—not a bad emotion.
I’m not a very good fighter. I struggle. Especially with friends, it kills me when I’m disagreeing with a friend. It really breaks my soul. But I’m trying. I have to say to myself, “Fighting is not bad. It’s OK. You can do it.” I think I’m always in the mode of the peacekeeper and trying to not ruffle feathers. I’m still teaching myself that you can argue, you can get annoyed, and that’s not the end of something or the ruination of something. It is just what it is. You can move on from it.
WM: If you could share any mental health advice or words of encouragement with our readers, what would you say?
NC: Don’t ever feel ashamed of how you feel. I think it’s so important to talk [about your feelings]. And I understand that it isn’t like you’re going to speak about it and it’s immediately going to solve the problem, but it is the first step. And a problem shared is a problem halved. All of those sayings, they can sound tired, but they mean something. Everyone has gone through struggles. Everyone has. I certainly felt like, in my darkest moments, I felt like it would never pass. But everything passes. I think you have to remind yourself of that, and what feels like an impossible situation will not always be impossible. There’s help out there, and there’s always people that love you. Just try and tell yourself that and just know it’s not forever.
Wondermind
Written by Shannon Barbour
Published April 12, 2024
