Nicola Coughlan joked the huge fame Bridgerton has brought her makes her feel like a dog on the Tube.
The Irish actress, 35, says people stare at her wherever she goes now that she stars in the Netflix hit, which became the streaming platform's biggest show ever with 80 million people tuning in.
The Derry Girls star admits she sometimes feels like an "animal at the zoo" as people watch her intently as she hangs out with friends.
She told Elle UK : "Being famous is like being a dog on the Tube. It’s exactly the same energy. When you get on, everyone looks at you.
"Some people are so smiley, while some are afraid of you and don’t want to go near. Some people touch you without asking. I can still do the things I want to do, obviously, but it is different.
"I went to the pub with my friend a while back and it was like being an animal at the zoo. People just watching and looking. And I remember one time I was taking my Invisalign out, and this person was staring me right in the eyes, which was quite weird. But, honestly, most people are so, so lovely."
Nicola also opened up about how she had a gut feeling that racy period drama Bridgerton was going to be a huge hit, and how she warned co-star Phoebe Dynevor - daughter of Coronation Street's Sally Dynevor - that her life was about to change.
She told the mag: "I didn’t think it was going to be the biggest show on Netflix, I didn’t think that level. But I had lunch with Phoebe maybe about two months before it came out. And I said, 'I think your life’s going to change.'
"And she was like, 'No, I don’t know. I’ve done things before that people thought was going to be huge and it hasn’t worked out.' But I just had that instinct about it."
She added of the show's success: "I was like, 'OK, great. People are watching.' And then it was like, 'It’s number one in Turkey. It’s number one in Canada. Number one in the US.'
"I started compiling a list just to try to make it real in my head. And then it was like, 'It’s the biggest show that’s ever been on Netflix, 80 million people', and it’s like, 'What?' It just was surreal."
Nicola, who plays Penelope Featherington in the show, also dished on the potentially steamy future scenes between herself and co-star Luke Newton, who plays Colin Bridgerton.
"Oh god, yes, it’s going to happen," she confessed.
"We used to joke about it, really inappropriate jokes, like, 'Wouldn’t it be funny if we did this when we do it?' And then as time goes on it becomes more real. Now it’s not funny anymore! Everyone’s like, 'You’re going to have to kiss Luke! On the lips!'"
* The March issue of ELLE UK is on sale from February 2
