Nicola Coughlan

My 20s were crazy tough. I was broke all of the time. If I wanted to buy a coffee, I'd be terrified my card would get rejected. It was all that stress.

I've had the privilege of wearing so many incredible costumes on 'Bridgerton,' especially in season three.

I was a huge Barbie fan as a little girl.

I had these grand notions that I wanted to go off and be an actor... I was always roping my friends into making my own movies and plays.

All my life, I feel like I'm a competition winner. Like - how did I end up here?

RuPaul told me I was funny, so I can die happy now.

I love a dark, moody drama as much as the next person, but there was a real gap for something like 'Bridgerton.' We certainly didn't think it was going to be the No 1 show on Netflix... How do you process that? You don't, I think, is the answer.

I always want to do my best job and not let people down, and it's wild being on a show that has hundreds of millions of viewers around the world.

I remember in my late 20s, early 30s, when people would start getting engaged and having babies and you go, 'but what does that mean for us?' It's a selfish thing, but you also just love your friend. You don't want to lose that version of them.

I think less so now in the industry, but that was a big thing, actors going method, throwing chairs. And I'm like 'who's that for, though?'

There's a real danger in writing or acting as therapy because if you've ever been on-screen with someone or on stage or worked with a writer that is trying to work through issues, it's a mess. No matter what you're trying to deal with, I think you have to be removed enough from it to deal with it because otherwise it can just be a disaster.

I thought, 'What if you get the job you think you've always wanted and it doesn't fulfill you?' But it really does. That will never not be a privilege for me.

Because I come from a background in theater and doing little fringe plays, and wondering if 20 people would come to see it, I think that hunger and fear don't leave you. I'll always have that motivation and drive to be like, 'Please come and see my play.'

Sustainable fashion can mean something amazing.

Getting nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award is a really special one, honestly, because to be acknowledged by your peers and people you admire so much feels extra special.

I love when you watch a piece of television, and it just blows your mind.

I think Michaela Coel is such a visionary and she's someone that you're always so excited to see what she's going to do next.

In the beginning, when 'Derry Girls' came out, it was a success very quickly which was amazing but I was terrified to go to events and dress up. I just thought, 'oh god, you're going to be so judged,' so I threw on whatever from my wardrobe but I never felt fully confident.

I worked a million different jobs, lived in different places, lived in terrible house shares with mould on the walls.

My twenties were such a struggle - it's really hard not to be doing the thing that you want so desperately.

I grew up Irish Catholic.

It took me until I was 30 to get a good job on television.

I used to be obsessed with 'The Wizard of Oz.' And I'd watch it - and I was only four, so I didn't know what it was - but I was like, I want that. I don't know what that is. But I want to do that.

I just want to work with people who are considerate and open and just love what they do and want to make great things.

I think television - not just television, the world - has been so male-centric for so long. And, like with anything, we just want something refreshing and new - let's just try that.

Kate Spade bags are such It bags.

I absolutely love mascara. I always have.

The industry that I'm in, it's hard. There's a lot of scrutiny. People don't think of actors as freelancers, but we all are. We go from job to job. You do have to prove yourself again each time.

As part of my brain-rot lifestyle, I do watch a lot of TikTok.

You have to have a private life and know who you are.

I oscillate between two things as a woman: It costs nothing to be nice, and women don't owe you niceness. Both of those things are true.

You have to have a level of delusion to think, I can really sustain myself pretending to be other people.

Fame is a weird thing.

Andrew Scott and Phoebe Waller-Bridge in 'Fleabag' were such a brilliant pairing.

When I was 19, moving to San Francisco was my first time living away from home, and it had such a gorgeous energy.

Even though it's a chain, I love Wahaca. I used to go there when I was auditioning in London and didn't know many people, so the staff got used to me coming in.

Prioritizing my mental health is of the utmost importance to me. I try to focus on moments of joy.

I always think a good accessory makes an outfit. If you're wearing a bad outfit but wearing a good bag, it takes it up a notch. A great handbag is like a little comfort blanket and helps me feel put-together.

I'm very lucky to get to use my body to become all these fascinating women. But the prism through which my body is viewed is inescapable.

I always like to buy something to mark an occasion for myself. It's a reminder of hard work, and it's lovely to look back on. When I wrapped the first season of 'Bridgerton,' it was this gorgeous, pink-quilted Kate Spade bag with a red heart on the front.

When actors are big divas, I always think there was always a current of that in them.

Every actor is so different - some are classically trained, and some just walked in off the street.

I talk about this with my female friends in the industry all the time, how dangerous imposter syndrome is.

I used to wear a 'Hamilton' hoodie to set because I so intensely adore the show.

When 'Derry Girls' went out in 2018, it quickly became Channel 4's most successful comedy in 13 years, proving what I'd long suspected: that there was a hunger for stories about women and girls.

When we were filming the first series of 'Derry Girls,' I worried whether people would like it.

So much television allows for, even centres on, deeply flawed male characters, far less so women. Would anyone give a note asking that 'Breaking Bad's' Walter White, one of TV's best villains, be a little sweeter? Of course not.

Something in our society tells us that women's bodies are fair game for scrutiny in a way that men's simply are not.

I know I'm not alone; women in my industry are put under constant scrutiny for their looks.

As an actor, your body is a gift.