Nicola Coughlan is either rumored to or being willed to undergo a weight loss by Bridgerton fans. The Penelope Featherington actress has constantly been on the receiving end of never-ending pointless comments about her body and weight. But the way Nicola Coughlan has dealt with it shows that she does not care for weight loss, except if it's for a role.
Nicola Coughlan is an Irish actress who is mostly known for portraying the characters Clare Devlin in the Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls and Penelope Featherington in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton.
Despite being known for major acting roles in hit shows like that, Nicola Coughlan is mostly talked about to discuss her body, in particular her weight loss (or lack of). She weighs about 68 kgs and is 5 feet 1 inch tall.
Previously, we touched on the weight loss stories of Adam Richman and Danielle Ruhl.
Did Nicola Coughlan Undergo Weight Loss?
The rumor has it that Nicola Coughlan (@nicolacoughlan) is trying to. But so far, by the looks of it, no significant strides have been made. So, it could be just that - a rumor with no hint of truth in it. Or maybe Penelope Featherington (the character she portrayed in Bridgerton) fans might have tried to will the actress' makeover through weight loss by searching it on the internet and hoping it comes true.
Because otherwise, Nicola herself has never mentioned anything publicly about trying to lose weight. She could be doing it for health concerns and keeping it quiet. Or maybe constant body-shaming finally got to her and she decided to do it out of desperation to get away from being the target of those fat-shamers. But perhaps not. Her rightly unfaltering stance on her weight makes it seem like she is not bothered about having a weight loss, to be honest.
Ever since Nicola Coughlan came to fame as an actress, she has always been talked about in regard to her weight, never been celebrated for her talent in acting. And the Bridgerton star is very well aware of the prejudices she has been facing due to her body type because she has been unfailingly and unkindly reminded of it every step of her way.
This has probably been the greatest tragedy of her life. Nicola Coughlan wants to devote her life to the institution of acting and wants to make a name for herself. But far from being recognized for her genius in acting, she is constantly tormented with pointless discussions about her weight, which has no bearing on her acting skills.
Just two months ago on January 31, Nicola Coughlan took to her Twitter profile to say something about sharing the opinions people have on her body and weight in that they don't. She conveyed through her post that she finds it hard to take the weight of thousands of opinions on how she looks.
Even if people mean it with a decent intention and not to be offensive, the Derry Girls actor would rather that they keep their mouths shut about her weight.
Nicola Coughlan understands that being in the spotlight comes with her job description and is within the territory and it's not possible for people to not form opinions about her but she would really appreciate it if they kindly refrained from sharing their thoughts about her directly with her.
Once a theater critic, in his review of her performance in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, called her an overweight little girl. In response to that fatphobic comments which were not isolated, the Whistle Through the Shamrocks podcast creator wrote an article for The Guardian in 2018, in which she criticized the industry's focus and people's preoccupation with women's bodies more than their art. She made it clear that all she wanted was for critics and the public to focus on her acting, not on her body.
But if the actress was hoping that the article might do some good and people might stop talking about her body, then she was wrong. Because about two years after that, in March 2021, the Harlots actress received a particularly vicious comment on Twitter which she was unable to ignore. She had attended the Golden Globes virtual red carpet in a pastel yellow gown and a black cardigan.
The aforementioned tweet that prompted a response from the actress said that 'the fat girl from Bridgerton was wearing a black cardigan at the Golden Globes because if women are fat, no matter how hot and stylish they are, they will always wear a black cardigan because they will feel like they have to. '
Nicola Coughlan couldn't stand being identified as the fat girl from Bridgerton and pointed out that she has a name that should be used to call her. She responded with a series of tweets. In the first one, she shared the article she had written for The Guardian and once asked people to judge actors for their work and not their bodies.
Nicola told people to stop asking women about weight, which is irrelevant, in the interviews because she feels deeply uncomfortable every time she is asked about her body and she is not allowed to talk about the job that she loves so much. She also pointed out how such questions were reductive for women, especially in the face of strides in the diversity in the arts.
Nicola Coughlan then went on to clarify that she said all that, not in the capacity of a body positivity advocate. She just wanted to let people know that her body is the tool she uses to tell stories, not what she defines herself by and that she would lose or gain weight as per the requirement of roles she chooses to play.
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