Nicola Mary Coughlan is an Irish actress. She is known for her roles as Clare Devlin in the Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls and Penelope Featherington in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton. She earned a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for playing the lead role of Penelope Featherington in the third season of Bridgerton. Coughlan earned a British Academy Television Awards nomination for her role as Maggie Donovan in Big Mood (2024–present). Coughlan was born on 9 January 1987 in Galway, Ireland, and grew up in Oranmore. The youngest of three siblings, her father served in the Irish Army before passing away in 2016, and her mother was a stay-at-home parent. At the age of five, while watching her sister perform in a school play, Coughlan decided she wanted to become an actress. She attended Scoil Mhuire Primary School and Calasanctius College. She graduated with a degree in English and Classical Civilisation from the National University of Ireland, Galway. She then went on to train in England at the Oxford School of Drama and Birmingham School of Acting.

Filmography

• 2027Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory — (voice)
• 2026GOAT — Olivia Burke (voice)
• 2026National Theatre Live: The Playboy of the Western World — Pegeen Mike
• 2026The Magic Faraway Tree — Silky
• Big Mood — Maggie
• 2024Seize Them! — Humble Joan
• 2023Barbie — Barbie
• 2023Dodger Special: Coronation — Queen Victoria
• 2023The Velveteen Rabbit — Playroom Fairy (voice)
• Rhod Gilbert's Growing Pains — Guest
• Bridgerton — Penelope Featherington, Penelope Bridgerton
• Derry Girls — Clare Devlin
• Harlots — Hannah Dalton
• 2013Svengali — Club Girl
• 2012Ivan the Incredible — Lottie -English (voice)
• 2008Summer of the Flying Saucer — Janis Voice
• The Fairytaler — voice
• 2004The Phantom Cnut — Katie
• Doctors — Marie Callaghan
• 1997My Brother's War — Little Girl
• Untitled Roald Dahl Series

Appearances as themselves (13)

• Saturday Night Live UK — Self - Cameo (uncredited), Self - Host
• Rob Beckett's Smart TV — Self - Guest
• 2023An Audience with Kylie — Self
• Taskmaster’s New Year Treat — Self
• The Netflix Afterparty — Self
• RuPaul's Drag Race UK — Self - Guest Judge
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
• The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice — Self
• Movies with Ali Plumb — Self
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• Would I Lie to You? — Self