Nicola Coughlan said filming her Bridgerton sex scenes was empowering

She became a global star in series three of Bridgerton, but the character she took on was a major change for her.

During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Coughlan admitted it was hard to play an adult because she was so used to playing younger characters.

She told host Graham Norton: "I realised I was 35 when I was filming the season, and I’d never played an adult. I was like, ‘How do I do this?'"

"The first two [Bridgerton] series, I looked a lot like Spongebob Squarepants, very curly, ginger [hair], yellow dress, sort a of a tent situation going on.

"But then it was weird having to play the romantic lead and… it’s a sexy show. A lot of sexy things happen in it, and then I realised I was going to have to do the sexy things and I was like, ‘Right.’"

Coughlan said she was very proud of those scenes

However, she did admit her mam was not so impressed.

"My mother was so mad at me about those scenes – as if they were my fault.

"I didn’t go to the screening with her," she confessed.

Despite her mother's reaction, Coughlan told Stylist that filming her sex scenes was an empowering moment.

"There’s one scene where I’m very naked on camera, and that was my idea, my choice. It just felt like the biggest ‘f*** you’ to all the conversation surrounding my body. It was amazingly empowering.

"I felt beautiful in the moment, and I thought: ‘When I’m 80, I want to look back on this and remember how f***ing hot I looked!’" she added.

More of this attitude, please.

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