Nicola Coughlan hasn't let fame go to her head just yet. The Irish star of two of the most-anticipated TV series of 2022 recently spilt the beans on what it's like for her to navigate her way around her new home of London after achieving mega-success both at home and internationally.

Coughlan said of being recognised in London: "Being famous is like being a dog on the Tube. It’s exactly the same energy. When you get on, everyone looks at you. Some people are so smiley, while some are afraid of you and don’t want to go near. Some people touch you without asking. I can still do the things I want to do, obviously, but it is different."

She also likened being famous to "being an animal at the zoo" with "people just watching and looking". She recounted one particularly uncomfortable moment when taking her removable brace out of her mouth in public: "I remember one time I was taking my Invisalign out, and this person was staring me right in the eyes, which was quite weird. But, honestly, most people are so, so lovely."

The third and final season of 'Derry Girls' hits Channel 4 this year, and with filming already wrapped on the series, it seems we might not have to wait much longer for the sitcom to return. Coughlan revealed that she and the rest of the cast have already watched the first episode: "Oh, you’re going to love it. I came back to watch a screening of episode one with the cast. And at the end we were shouting and cheering and jumping up out of our seats. Which doesn’t happen. But it was like, 'Oh, this is even better'."

On leaving her character of Clare Devlin behind, after playing her for five years, the 34-year-old said it was "like saying goodbye to a friend I know I’ll never see again".

On the subject of her other mega-hit 'Bridgerton' (which, before 'Squid Game', was Netflix's biggest TV series), the actor says working on the set of the period drama "gives me joy, genuinely". Coughlan also knows at what point in the series Penelope Featherington's love life begins to get all hot and steamy, just like her character's in the novels.

She says: "Oh god, yes, it’s going to happen! We [she and Luke Newton, who plays Colin Bridgerton] used to joke about it, really inappropriate jokes, like, 'Wouldn’t it be funny if we did this when we do it?' And then as time goes on it becomes more real. Now it’s not funny anymore! Everyone’s like, 'You’re going to have to kiss Luke! On the lips!'"

'Derry Girls' season three hits Channel 4 later this year; 'Bridgerton' season two hits Netflix on March 25.

Via Elle UK.