Great spoilers, obviously!
Nicola Coughlan became an overnight star thanks to her role as Penelope Featherington on the hit show Bridgerton.
Netflix
If you thought she looked familiar, you must remember her as Clare in Derry girls!
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, she spilled tea in that surprising ending!
Netflix
There are MAJOR SPOILERS ahead! If you haven’t finished the series yet, watch it and come back !!
As you know, the final scene revealed that PENELOPE FEATHERINGTON, of all people, was Lady Whistledown! Talk about a plot twist!
Netflix
Think of all those times that Eloise mentioned Lady Whistledown and Penelope changed the subject or diverted her friend’s attention! Everything makes sense now!!
Well, the 33-year-old woman explained exactly how she discovered Lady Whistledown’s identity.
“When I auditioned for the program, I didn’t have a complete script, I hadn’t read the books. I started to dive into the Bridgerton books. And then I went to the fan forums because I quickly realized what a great fandom there is. I read the synopsis of one of the books that said, ‘When Penelope is revealed as Lady Whistledown.’ And I thought, ‘What ?! But then I didn’t know, because it is an adaptation, so this is not guaranteed. They could have changed that. “
“When I finally sat down with our showrunner, Chris Van Dusen, I said, ‘Am I her?’ He said, ‘Yes, you are.’ But they didn’t even know at that point whether they were going to reveal it, or whether they were going to make a red herring or whatever. “
“But for me to know that was very important because it changes everything about her. It means that she is a crazy listener and active all the time. She is the lowest status character in any room, but she is also the highest status . It controls the entire London society while being despised as a total wall flower. This has informed enormously how I played the role. “
Liam Daniel / Netflix / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Nicola also kept the secret to herself, in parallel with her character.
“Sometimes people said, ‘I wonder who Whistledown is?’ And I said, ‘Do you want to know?’ I wouldn’t spoil it for anyone who didn’t, but it was a lot of fun to see people’s reaction. They say, ‘Penelope ?! “I know, right? Isn’t that crazy?” But it’s been funny because it’s become a real life secret for me, not having to tell people. “
Next, Nicola exposed his thoughts on Penelope’s motivation to become the infamous writer.
“[Penelope’s] really difficult to describe in a few words, because it is complex, but human beings are. Real life is not Disney, where there are good and bad. “
Netflix collection / courtesy of Everett
“Penelope is all things. She is very sweet, but she is super conniving and obviously learned to keep secrets. I have to look at her family dynamics. She is so strange in that family. Her sisters have each other , her mother is very independent, her father doesn’t pay attention to her, so I think she was used to just internalizing her thoughts. “
Liam Daniel / Netflix / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
“Also, as she has been bullied all her life, she has tried to find a way out. She is so witty and caustic and all that stuff, but I don’t think she necessarily has the confidence levels to say those things out loud. I think she is a real classic writer too, because you often meet writers, and they write these huge, exaggerated characters, and personally they are so quiet. It’s a relief for her. “
Liam Daniel / Netflix / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
You can read the full interview from Entertainment Weekly here.
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