What Is Nicola Coughlin's Net Worth?
Nicola Coughlan is an Irish actress who has a net worth of $2 million. Nicola Coughlan is best known for playing Clare Devlin on the Channel 4 teen sitcom "Derry Girls" (2018–2022) and Penelope Featherington on the massively popular Netflix series "Bridgerton" (2020–present). Nicola has also appeared in the films "Svengali" (2013), "Barbie" (2023), and "Seize Them!" (2024) and the television series "Harlots" (2018) and "Big Mood" (2024). She created the 2021 podcast "Whistle Through the Shamrocks," which she also wrote.
Early Life
Nicola Coughlan was born Nicola Mary Coughlan on January 9, 1987, in Galway, Ireland. Her mother was a homemaker, and her father was a member of the Irish army. Nicola grew up with two older siblings, Clodagh and Kieran, in Oranmore. When she was 5 years old, Coughlin decided that she wanted to pursue an acting career after she saw her sister in a school play. Nicola attended primary school at Scoil Mhuire and secondary school at Calasanctius College. In 2008, she earned a degree in English and Classics from the National University of Ireland, Galway, where she competed in the National University Improvisation Competition "Acting Up" and won the Outstanding Individual Performance Award. After graduation, Coughlin moved to England, studying at the Oxford School of Drama as well as the Birmingham School of Acting.
Career
When she was 9 years old, Nicola had an uncredited role in the 1997 film "My Brother's War." From 2003 to 2005, she lent her voice to seven episodes of the animated Danish series "The Fairytales," and in 2004, she appeared in the short film "The Phantom Cnut." Next, Coughlin voiced Janis in the 2008 Irish family film "Summer of the Flying Saucer," Edda in the 2011 animated movie "Thor: Legend of the Magical Hammer," and Lottie in the English version of the 2012 Danish computer-animated comedy "Gummi T" (aka "Jelly T" or "Ivan the Incredible"). In 2010, she provided the voices of various characters on the English version of the German animated series "Simsala Grimm II: The Adventures of Yoyo and Doc Croc." Nicola guest-starred on the BBC One medical soap opera "Doctors" in 2012, and the following year, she appeared in the British film "Svengali." In the four years after graduating from drama school, Coughlin moved to London three times but was forced to return to her parents' home in Ireland each time as a result of financial difficulties. During this period, she became so depressed that she couldn't get out of bed some days, and her family helped her through it. She told "Glamour" magazine, "It was my family being amazing and my sister literally pulling me out of bed and making me go for a run. Stuff like that gave me a sense of purpose again and that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel." After Nicola attended an open casting call for a London production of "Jess and Joe Forever," she was cast in the lead role of Jess. Her first performance in the play took place in September 2016, and the production earned her an Off West End Award nomination.
(Photo by Arturo Holmes/WireImage)
From 2018 to 2022, Coughlin starred as Clare Devlin on Channel 4's "Derry Girls." Sadly, her father passed away five days before she found out that she landed what would become her breakout role. "Derry Girls" aired 19 episodes over three seasons and won a BAFTA Award for Best Scripted Comedy and an International Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series. In 2018, Nicola played Hannah Dalton on the British period drama "Harlots" and made her West End debut in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" at The Donmar Warehouse. The "Evening Standard" named Coughlin "one of the Rising Stars of 2018." In 2020, she began starring as Penelope Featherington on Netflix's "Bridgerton," which became the streaming service's most-watched original series premiere when it debuted on Christmas Day. In 2023, Nicola portrayed Queen Victoria in the "Coronation" episode of the "Oliver Twist" prequel series "Dodger," and she played Diplomat Barbie in the year's most commercially successful film, "Barbie," which grossed $1.446 billion at the box office and received eight Academy Award nominations. In 2024, she appeared in the film "Seize Them!" and played Maggie on the Channel 4 series "Big Mood."
Personal Life
In 2018, while she was starring in a London stage production of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," Nicola wrote an opinion piece for "The Guardian" titled "Critics, judge me for my work in 'Derry Girls' and on the stage, not on my body," in which she spoke out about the way women's bodies are unfairly scrutinized in theatre. In 2019, after the "Daily Mirror" said that her British Academy Television Awards outfit was "not the most flattering," Coughlin responded on Twitter, "I mean incorrect @DailyMirror I look smokin', sorry bout it." In February 2019, Nicola led nearly 30 women with suitcases over London's Westminster Bridge, demanding the decriminalization of abortion in Northern Ireland. The women represented the estimated number of women who traveled to England each week to access abortion services. In June 2020, Coughlan and her "Derry Girls" castmates performed a sketch at the fundraiser "RTÉ Does Comic Relief," which raised funds for people who had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2020, she raised €5,000 for the Irish children's hospice the Laura Lynn Hospice after auctioning off an Alex Perry dress. In 2023, Nicola was one of more than 2,000 individuals to sign a letter from Artists for Palestine that called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Palestine and criticized western governments for "not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them." In 2024, Coughlin raised nearly $2 million for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund through social media.
Awards and Nominations
In 2017, Coughlin earned an Off West End Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play for "Jess and Joe Forever." In 2021, she won the Irish Film and Television Awards' Rising Star Award and was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Drama for "Bridgerton." Nicola and her "Bridgerton" castmates also received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series that year. In 2022, Coughlin earned a Pena de Prata nomination for Best Supporting Acting in a Comedy Series for "Derry Girls," and in 2024, she shared a Gold Derby Award nomination for Best Ensemble Cast with her "Barbie" co-stars.
