Nicola Coughlan’s private life from Galway childhood to long term partner
The hugely successful local actress will be on RTE’s Late Late Show on Friday
Nicola Coughlan said that her latest TV show, I am Helen, was so intense that she was questioning quitting most days after filming.
Being a part of the latest Channel 4 instalment of the award-winning ‘I Am’ series, Coughlan’s character navigates the a five-year relationship breakdown with partner Steve - played by Joe Cole, who turns increasingly toxic and controlling.
The Oranmore actress, 39, discussed the filming experience while appearing on BBC One’s The Graham Norton Show last week where Steve in the show becomes increasingly influenced by online “manosphere” content.
“It is such an unusual project as it is completely improvised and quite a tough subject matter,” Coughlan said.
“I felt sick every day with nerves and thought, ‘When can I quit, I want to go home.’
“You really don’t know what the show is until you see it, and it is strange to watch it back.
“It was quite mad and a very different way of working – a really intense but amazing experience.”
She is the latest actress to feature in the I Am series, which explores women’s experiences through standalone stories and tackles issues including mental health, toxic relationships and ageing.
The show returns this month with its first instalment since 2022, when Kate Winslet starred in I Am Ruth alongside her real-life daughter Mia Threapleton.
Winslet won a Bafta TV Award for her performance in the drama, which explored a fraught mother-daughter relationship and the impact of social media on mental health.
Coughlan also discussed her upcoming role in the sixth series of Only Murders In The Building, which stars Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin as a crime-solving trio who host a true-crime podcast and investigate murders.
“It was very unexpected,” she said.
“I love the series and watch it with my mum.
“It is such a ridiculous cast – everyone is too famous. It was amazing fun to do, and I loved it.”
Derry Girls saw Nicola, who has been official with English actor and filmmaker Jake Dunn since last year, become a household name in the UK and Ireland.
Growing up as the youngest of four in Oranmore, Nicola always had an interest in acting. Her brother once got her a camcorder as a gift, and from there she would ‘torture’ her friends to be in her own home-made movies.
A past pupil of Scoil Mhuire and Calasanctius College in Oranmore, Nicola was just 17 leaving school and entering NUI Galway.
“I found getting work after college really tough,” she openly admits. “When you leave college you’re thrown in to this world and you’re a nobody, back at square one.
“I think I was on a bus home when I saw the Old Vic Theatre tweet that they were holding open auditions, which is basically unheard of for such a prestigious theatre.
“It was a really big deal for me to book those flights to London, and I really saw it as a last-ditch attempt at acting to be honest. There were 1,500 people at those open calls and I was selected as one of the final seven for Jess and Joe Forever.
“When it was on in The Orange Tree Theatre I got signed by Curtis Brown and then my first gig with them was Derry Girls.”
And thus Clare Devlin was born.