Loud and Proud: Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan on supporting Palestinians and against the genocide
By TASNIM LOKMAN | 29 May 2024 07:41pm | Sinar Daily
She faced potential professional consequences for her stance where she had been “warned” to stop her stance of Palestine as she would not be getting any work.
Irish actress Nicola Coughlan has not only consistently been wearing the Artists4Ceasefire pin during public events but she has also been speaking vocally about the Occupation of Palestine by Israel and the relentless bombing and destruction since Oct 7.
Coughlan, who plays Penelope Featherington in the Netflix series Bridgerton, in various interviews said that raising awareness about what’s happening in Palestine was important to her and that her advocacy stems from a sense of moral responsibility due to her privileged position as a successful actress and a white woman.
“It’s very important for me because I feel like I’m a very privileged person. I’m doing my dream job and I’m getting to travel the world, but then I’m hyper-aware of what’s happening in Rafah at the moment,” she told USA Today recently.
Coughlan revealed that her father was part of the Irish army and a member of the United Nations (UN) Truce Supervision Organisation dedicated to maintaining peace in the Middle East, and that her family lived in Jerusalem in the late 70s, which further adds a personal dimension to her stance.
“And I just feel, if I have this global platform, which I do at the minute, I think if I can hopefully raise funds for aid organisations — I have a fundraiser on my Instagram right now for Medical Aid for Palestine and if people would like to donate to that or share it I think it would be a wonderful thing to do.
“I feel very passionately about it. I’m Irish also, so it’s sort of a different perspective,” Coughlan added, referencing the Irish people’s long struggle against British colonial rule and oppression.
As for the pin she wears, it signifies a badge of honour from Artists4Ceasefire, an organisation that rallies artists and celebrities to advocate for peace.
Earlier this year, she and over 400 individuals from the entertainment industry signed a letter to American President Joe Biden, urging him to call for a ceasefire.
Coughlan has faced potential professional consequences for her stance, as she revealed to Teen Vogue last month that she had been “warned” to stop as she would not be getting any work if she kept showing solidarity to the Palestinians and speaking out against the genocide.
“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.”
Coughlan highlighted that “there’s a huge connection between Ireland and Palestine that maybe a lot of people aren’t aware of and a shared history.”
She was quoted saying that people in the entertainment industry told her “You won’t get work, you won’t do this”. However, she stood her ground stating that her perspective was ‘I don’t want any innocent people to suffer,’ then I’m not worried about people’s reactions.”
The Derry Girls actor was also actively posting pro-Palestine content on Instagram to her four million followers. Earlier this month, she raised awareness about the Israeli military’s invasion of Rafah.
Coughlan has consistently highlighted the trauma and suffering experienced by innocent Palestinians in Gaza, emphasising the importance of supporting all individuals, regardless of their background or nationality.
Additionally, Coughlan has encouraged her followers to take action by sharing information about aid organisations, such as Medical Aid for Palestine, and fundraising efforts to support displaced Palestinian families.
Coughlan has been involved in various social justice causes, such as campaigning for marriage equality in Ireland and marching for reproductive rights.
“Even before I was on television, I was involved in different causes,” she said in the Teen Vogue interview.
“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.”
“It’s a testament to the people that follow me being so kind and generous,” Coughlan said. “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?”
Despite being on a press tour for Season 3 of the Netflix period romantic-comedy Bridgerton, Coughlan has continued to post about Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and raised thousands of dollars through fundraisers she has organised.
She even inspired Bridgerton fans to organise their fundraising efforts online with the “Polins x Care for Gaza” group – named after the romantic connection between her character Penelope and Colin, where they raised funds for Care for Gaza, a non-profit organisation that assists displaced Palestinian families
The first part of “Bridgerton” Season 3 streams May 16 on Netflix, followed by the second batch of episodes launching June 13.
Follow us on Facebook
Latest
Join us in raising awareness and inspiring solidarity for Palestine through art and community engagement.
“The homeland is stuck in our teeth. It’s filling our cavities. It rests on our tongues. My God. How we yearn for its olive trees. How it haunts our dreams.”
― Noor Hindi, Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow.
I don’t usually comment but I gotta state thanks for the post on this amazing one : D.
Hey, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your blog site in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, superb blog!
Exactly what I was searching for, thanks for posting.
I have been browsing on-line greater than three hours lately, but I by no means found any attention-grabbing article like yours. It’s beautiful worth enough for me. In my view, if all site owners and bloggers made excellent content as you did, the net will probably be a lot more helpful than ever before. “Wherever they burn books, they will also, in the end, burn people.” by Heinrich Heine.
I do like the way you have framed this specific situation and it really does provide me some fodder for thought. On the other hand, coming from what precisely I have witnessed, I basically wish as other feed-back pile on that people today remain on issue and not start upon a soap box associated with some other news of the day. Still, thank you for this exceptional point and while I do not go along with this in totality, I value the perspective.
Yay google is my world beater helped me to find this great site! .
Definitely imagine that that you stated. Your favorite justification appeared to be at the net the simplest factor to take into accout of. I say to you, I certainly get irked while other folks think about issues that they plainly do not realize about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the top as smartly as outlined out the entire thing without having side effect , people could take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thank you
Hey would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with? I’m planning to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a tough time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S Sorry for being off-topic but I had to ask!
Hi, Neat post. There is a problem together with your website in internet explorer, may check thisK IE still is the marketplace chief and a huge portion of people will omit your magnificent writing due to this problem.
Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your content seem to be running off the screen in Chrome. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The design and style look great though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Thanks
Very interesting info!Perfect just what I was searching for!
Just wanna remark on few general things, The website style and design is perfect, the articles is rattling good. “The stars are constantly shining, but often we do not see them until the dark hours.” by Earl Riney.
It?¦s really a cool and useful piece of information. I?¦m glad that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
I will right away grab your rss feed as I can’t find your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please let me know in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.
Simply wanna comment on few general things, The website layout is perfect, the subject matter is rattling great : D.
Thank you for sharing superb informations. Your site is very cool. I am impressed by the details that you’ve on this website. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for more articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found simply the info I already searched everywhere and simply could not come across. What a perfect website.
There is perceptibly a lot to know about this. I feel you made various good points in features also.
What i do not understood is in truth how you’re not actually a lot more neatly-appreciated than you may be now. You are so intelligent. You already know therefore significantly in the case of this topic, made me in my opinion believe it from a lot of varied angles. Its like women and men aren’t fascinated unless it is one thing to do with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs nice. Always maintain it up!
The Pink Salt Trick is a minimalist but effective morning routine: Just drink a glass of lukewarm water mixed with a pinch of Himalayan pink salt as soon as you wake up.
Have you ever considered writing an e-book or guest authoring on other sites? I have a blog centered on the same ideas you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my readers would enjoy your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.