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No longer the wallflower of the Ton, Nicola Coughlan‘s Bridgerton character will be taking center stage in Season 3. But her rising fame has not kept her from continuing to support social causes on her social media, including the conflict in Palestine.
Speaking to Teen Vogue, Coughlan explained that she was an activist well before she began doing television.
“I went campaigning door-to-door for marriage equality in Ireland, I went on marches for abortion rights. I’ve always cared about causes and social justice… To me it always becomes about supporting all innocent people, which sounds oversimplified, but I think you’ve got to look at situations and just think, ‘Are we supporting innocent people no matter where they’re from, who they are?’ That’s my drive,” she said.
The actress confessed that she was warned against voicing support for Palestine amid the months-long conflict with Israel.
“You do get told [in Hollywood], ‘You won’t get work,’ ‘You won’t do this,’” she said. “But I also think, deep down, if you know that you’re coming from a place of ‘I don’t want any innocent people to suffer,’ then I’m not worried about people’s reactions.”
Other actors have faced serious consequences for voicing their support for Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Actress Melissa Barrera was fired from Scream for calling for a ceasefire on social media, and Susan Sarandon was dropped from her agency after she spoke at a pro-Palestine rally.
But Coughlan expressed that she felt it was important for her to continue using her platform for social causes.
“I think it’s important to me because firstly, I’m a very privileged person,” Coughlan said. “I’m so lucky I’ve gotten to this point in my career, and I’m privileged as a white woman, first off. Then the fact that I get to do the job I love and travel the world and meet amazing people, I feel a moral responsibility to give back.”
The actress was among many who wore an Artists4Ceasefire pin at this year’s Oscars ceremony. Per Teen Vogue‘s reporting, Bridgerton fans began an X account called Polins x Care for Gaza — the fandom’s name for Coughlan’s Season 3 romance with her co-star Luke Newton‘s character — to raise thousands of dollars for Care for Gaza.
Coughlin said this was “a testament to the people that follow me being so kind and generous.”
She added, “I feel like, in the nicest way possible, my opinion on situations doesn’t matter, but because I have a platform and I have a couple of million people on there, if I can raise a little bit of money, isn’t that an amazing thing to do? And if you can amplify voices of anyone in the world who’s going through tough situations, I just think, why would you not do that?”
Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 will premiere on Netflix May 16.
