May 9, 2024: Nicola Coughlan attends the season 3 photocall for "Bridgerton" at Bulgari Hotel in Milan, Italy.Getty Images
Irish actress Nicola Coughlan has revealed people are often shocked when they realize she's not actually British.
Coughlan, the 37-year-old Galway native who plays Penelope Featherington in the Netflix hit period drama "Bridgerton," recently appeared as a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
She told the show host that that fans of the steamy series, which is set in Regency-era England, are sometimes disappointed when they find out she is not, in fact, British.
She said: "They should be more excited because I'm Irish!"
Meyers responded: "I mean, I almost feel like that's someone who's never met an Irish person."
Coughlan, who rose to prominence as Clare in "Derry Girls," said: "Exactly. I'm like, I'm great craic."
She went on to describe how she first learned to do an English accent when she was 14 because she did a lot of professional voiceover work.
Coughlan said, "I used to do a lot of voiceovers...a tiny frog or a little princess...I will do that voice," joking that "there was no one else in the west of Ireland that could do that better than me."
Meyers also asked about her accent in "Derry Girls," which he called "such a joyful show." He said it "must've been so fun to do a show that was so Irish and so beloved by everyone."
Despite being Irish herself, Coughlan revealed she found the Derry accent very difficult to do.
"The accent is so much harder than a British one!" she exclaimed. "There are so many more vowels that exist ... it's so difficult."
The first four episodes of "Bridgerton" Season 3 premiered on Netflix on May 16 and are now available for streaming. The second four episodes of the season will be released on June 12.