Nicola Coughlan said she’s ‘devastated’ as she revealed she was ‘written out’ of Derry Girls due to a schedule clash with Bridgerton.
The Galway born star first shot to fame as ‘wee Clare Devlin’ on the Channel 4 comedy five years ago.
She has since gone on to become one of the biggest names in the business since her Bridgerton debut.
Read More: Nicola Coughlan shares 'desperate and broke' snap before Derry Girls
But she said that whilst it is 'amazing' to be part of two of the biggest shows of the moment, she revealed the past year was filled with ‘tears and stress’ as she tried to juggle filming commitments for the final season in Derry, with filming calls for the Netflix hit in the UK.
“Last year was super stressful when it came to it,” she admitted.
"We were meant to film Derry Girls in January and then they decided to push it to the end of the year and I was like on contract with Bridgerton, like ‘guys, I have to go’.
“So it was very stressful. Because I was like am I able to do both and there was tears and stress.
The 35-year-old went on: “And when it came down to it I did end up getting written out of some of Derry Girls which was pretty devastating, but I petitioned to be in all of it, that’s all I'm going to say..
“But we got there. It was difficult, but it is one for the fans and I hope they love it.”
Nicola plays a central role in period drama Bridgerton, not only starring as Penelope Featherington, but also the mysterious gossip writer, Lady Whistledown.
But the newly released season two also sees her introduce another character to her catalogue in the show, and an Irish accent, as she tries to keep her secret identity under wraps.
Nicola, who sports a Dublin accent in scenes where she can be seen haggling to try to get the best deal for her Lady Whistledown printing, laughed: “A lot of people who aren’t Irish are like ‘it’s your own accent’ and I'm like no it’s not.”
“It was really fun, I got the script and it said ‘Penelope speaks in a perfect Irish accent’, and I was like okay, let’s do it.
“It was fun and sort of creating this alter ego for her, like I call her Bridget Bridgeton, like an Irish maid. So that’s just a name that nobody in Shondaland has approved..
However, speaking to Stephen Byrne on RTE’s 2fm, she went on: “It was great fun but also slightly terrifying because it felt so different, this was like a whole different thing. But it was great, I loved it.”
She also told of her joy at sharing the role of the notorious writer with Julie Andrews, who provides the voice over throughout the show.
“She sent me an email for my birthday and she addressed it ‘from one Lady Whistledown to another’ and it was the best email I’ve ever gotten."
Irish Mirror have reached out to Channel 4 for comment.
