Nicola Coughlan will scale back 'Bridgerton' duties: 'Im still the OG guys'

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Set us as preferred Dearest gentle reader, Nicola Coughlan will scale back on portraying her beloved “Bridgerton” character.While promoting the new fantasy adventure film “The Magic Faraway Tree” (out Aug.21), Coughlan told E! News that she will be stepping back from her role as Penelope Featherington in the fifth season of the Netflix hit show.

“I feel very lucky.To be honest it’s the best of both worlds because I’m currently filming on ‘Only Murders,’ but I still get to pop back into ‘Bridgerton’ now and then and see everybody.

It’s like I’m home,” Coughlan said to E! News.The 39-year-old Irish actor said that she had an “incredible experience” leading the “Bridgerton” series, but her storyline is naturally winding down.In Season 4, Penelope retired as the high-society gossip columnist Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews) after her public identity was unveiled amid her romance with Colin Bridgerton (portrayed by Luke Newton) in Season 3.Another mystery writer seems to have picked up the pen as the show heads for its fifth season — which will center on the widowed Francesca Bridgerton (played by Hannah Dodd) and her late husband John Stirling’s cousin, Michaela Stirling (played by Masali Baduza).“Part of the beauty of that world is that it keeps reinventing itself.

Every season being a new story takes on a different guise,” Coughlan said.“Also, I’m still the OG guys, do you know what I mean? Still the OG.”Earlier this year, the former “Derry Girls” star joined the sixth season of Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” as a recurring cast member, just as the NYC crime-solvers shift their focus to a London case.But don’t worry, dear reader, Coughlan will not disappear completely from the popular Netflix series, set to be released next year.

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