Nicola Coughlan Reacts to 'Bridgerton' Cliffhanger and Season 3

Lady Whistledown herself, Nicola Coughlan, is dishing on ‘Bridgerton’ Season 2!

“Extra’s” Rachel Lindsay spoke with Nicola about how her character Penelope’s friendship with Eloise Bridgerton is being this season, as well as the dramatic final episodes.

This season, Penelope and Eloise’s friendship becomes “more complicated.” Nicola shared, “It's really interesting because obviously they love and adore each other. I mean they are soul sisters, they're best friends. Their relationship gets more complicated a lot because Penelope is lying to her all the time and also she has a business to run and a lot of our businesses walking around balls and hearing little tidbits of information and Eloise is like glued to her, they're glued at the hip and then Penelope goes, ‘Oh this is an issue.’ It's sort of that tension sort of building and then, you know, Penelope needing Eloise to think Whistledown is great and it's sort of, yeah, it sort of builds and builds and builds.”

As for how the last episodes of the season make way for season 3, Coughlan teased, “I think it's going to have a big impact. I know when I was watching the final episode, my heart was racing throughout the whole thing… I felt sick and nervous. I think a lot happens and I think it's set up really well. Like when I finished the final episode, I went, ‘Oh, I really want to watch season three now’ and I was like, ‘Well, that's good because I'm in it’ and I'm sort of like, it can already be removed enough that I'm like, I really want to know what happens next. I think people are gonna be ready for Season 3.”

Nicola’s role on the show has changed her life. Admitting it’s “hard to get your head around,” she added, “What is funny… we started filming season 2 three months after season one came out and we were still in like a global lockdown so we didn't like see any of the world, everything was just like numbers on a screen and you're going, ‘Okay, sounds amazing,’ but doesn't feel real sure… it's only recently we've been sort of out in the real world and you know, I was in the States in January on holiday and then people there would sort of be like, ‘Oh you Bridgerton’ and you go, ‘Whoa, okay, I'm like halfway across the world and you know who I am…’ it's very strange.”

Coughlan has even had some celebrity interactions with Kim Kardashian and Drew Barrymore, calling it “super crazy.”

Sarah Jessica Parker is even started following Nicola. She said, “My friends were like, ‘She follows you…’ I was like, 'What?' And then you're like, ‘Oh God I really better not post anything boring.’ Imagine if she unfollows me and then I'll just never cope.”

Speaking of celebrities, Nicola has a few ideas of who she wants to be on the show. She shared, “I keep thinking like Billy Porter would be amazing. Like imagine Billy Porter like the Queen's Court, just like the queen's dress designer or something. I feel like I’m speaking it into existence. I just want it to happen.”

Of the impact of “Bridgerton” on pop culture, Coughlan admitted it was “absolutely bonkers.” She went on, “I mean you go into making a show, you really have no idea whether people will even watch it… We thought, you know, it's Shonda Rhimes, we're like, I'm sure some people will tune in, you know, she's got a pretty good track record, but at the same time it's become a phenomenon in a way that I don't think any of us ever expected… ‘Bridgerton’ makeup and shoes and soap and reality show? It's like, yeah, it's, it's really hard to get your head around. I can't believe it.”

“Bridgerton” has inspired the new dating show “The Courtship.”