Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan addresses concerns over period-drama's colour-blind casting

Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan hopes that the Netflix Original will set a benchmark as to how 'diverse' period dramas can be. Nicola appeared on the British daytime talk show, This Morning's latest episode on Tuesday, i.e. January 12, 2021, wherein she spoke about Bridgerton's colour-blind casting. The Irish actor also expressed how her conversation with co-actor Adjoa Andoh helped her realise the importance of casting people of colour in the Chris Van Dusen series.

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Nicola Coughlan speaks about Bridgerton cast and audience's acceptance

Nicola Coughlan was recently interviewed by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on the recent episode of This Morning after the success of Netflix's Bridgerton. During her interaction with the show hosts, the 34-year-old shed some light on how co-star Adjoa Andoh made her understand the importance of how the period drama handled casting people of colour. 

She said, "I'm speaking to Adjoa Andoh, who's brilliant as Lady Danbury and I said, 'Color-blind casting, it's great, it's totally the right thing.' And she said, 'Well, it's not, in a way, because it sort of erases race and erases people's struggles.'

 Nicola added, "And I thought that had never occurred to me, never. I think the world that we have created is a completely reimagined world, it's a fantasy."

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However, the Derry Girls actor is proud as to how the viewers embraced the vision of the Netflix period drama, which is based on American author Julia Quinn's book series. For the unversed, Nicola Coughlan in Bridgerton plays the role of Penelope Featherington, while the show's cast boasts of Regé-Jean Page as the Duke of Hastings, Simon Basset and Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne Bridgerton alongside an ensemble cast. 

During her interaction, Nicola also stated, "I would say to people, 'You can watch Game of Thrones, and you can completely suspend your disbelief that there are dragons in this world. For Bridgerton, you can suspend your disbelief that we have a black queen and a black duke, and they're the most fantastic actors.'" She continued, "And I'm so proud of it, and the reaction that we've had is just really heartening, and I hope that it will be a benchmark for what period dramas can be in terms of diversity."

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Watch the entire interview of Nicola Coughlan on This Morning below:

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