Born: 9th January 1987 (as Nicola Mary Coughlan)
Episodes Broadcast: 2024

Born in Galway, Ireland, Nicola Coughlan has cited several inspirations for her love of acting: her fascinatione with the 1939 classic movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz at age four, the experience of watching her older sister perform in a school play at age six, and the need to find a way to stand out in a family of outsized personalities. By the time she was nine, she had an uncredited role in the James Brolin movie My Brother's War, which was made in Ireland. Voice work followed, including for a series of cartoon versions of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales, alongside an appearance in the 2004 short film The Phantom Cnut. Coughlan read English and Classics at the National University of Ireland, Galway before studying drama at the Oxford School of Drama and the Birmingham School of Acting.

Coughlan then tried to make a living as an actor in London, during which time she contributed to further animated programmes. She also made her on-screen television debut in a 2012 episode of Doctors and took a small role in the 2013 Martin Freeman movie Svengali. However, Coughlan struggled to find work and, despite working a series of odd jobs, she was compelled by her financial situation to return home on more than one occasion. This led to a bout of depression, after which she took a position at an optician's. But Coughlan soon won a role in Jess And Joe Forever, which premiered at the Bristol Old Vic in 2016. Her performance was met with critical acclaim and, not long after, she was cast in the sitcom Derry Girls, which debuted in 2018. The same year, Coughlan could be seen in the period drama Harlots.

In 2020, another period drama provided Coughlan with her most popular platform to date: this was Bridgerton, based upon the novels by Julia Quinn. With her profile in the ascendant, she made a cameo appearance in the 2023 movie Barbie, which also featured a role for Ncuti Gatwa who, by that time, was recording his first episodes as the Fifteenth Doctor. In 2024, Coughlan starred in the comedy-drama Big Mood and the film farce Seize Them! before joining Gatwa as the eponymous Joy in that year's Doctor Who Christmas special, Joy To The World.