Simone Ashley says her Bridgerton co-star Nicola Coughlan is fully focused on her work and not body shaming from online trolls.
The English actress, 29, was asked about the unpleasant feelings Coughlan, 37, has faced amid her role as Penelope Featherington in the Netflix series.
Ashley, who plays the role of Lady Kathani ‘Kate’ Bridgerton in Bridgerton, told reporters at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in Monaco on June 15 that her co-star is doing well and putting herself above evil.
“Yes, haters are going to hate, and I think we can all relate to that, but I really don’t think she’ll let that bother her,” Ashley said, according to People.
Ashley said Coughlan “has a strong, fruitful career and a whole life ahead of him” and that he has full faith that his colleague will continue to rise.
Simone Ashley, 29, says her Bridgerton co-star Nicola Coughlan, 37, is completely focused on her work, and not the body shaming of online trolls. Photographed at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in Monaco on June 15.
“I really believe in her, and so does the world,” Ashley said. “I think Nicola is absolutely flying.”
Ashley, who has starring roles in the upcoming films This Tempting Madness and Picture This, called Coughlan “a beautiful, strong, confident and intelligent woman.”
He added: “Watching her do this press tour and spread so much joy and inspiration to everyone, especially women, around the world.” And she inspires me too.”
The Little Mermaid actress said Coughlan, a friend of Taylor Swift, not only stands out as a performer, but also as a person.
“He’s also a very kind human being,” Ashley said, “and I think it’s a universal language that people can relate to.”
Coughlan told People earlier this month that “some trolls” were wrong to speculate that the Bridgerton crew had digitally altered her waist size during production of the series.
“They were like, ‘They touched up your waist,’ and I was like, ‘No, they didn’t,'” Coughlan said.
Coughlan cited the structure and impact of the costumes she wears in the series, which is set in early 19th-century London.
Ashley, who plays the role of Lady Kathani ‘Kate’ Bridgerton in Bridgerton, spoke out in defense of her co-star at the event in Monaco.
Ashley, who has starring roles in the upcoming films This Tempting Madness and Picture This, called Coughlan “a beautiful, strong, confident and intelligent woman.”
“I think if you wear corsetry long enough, your body really adapts to it,” Coughlan told the magazine. “Sometimes they come to a fitting for a fashion designer and they put me in a corset and I say, ‘Oh, you can go tight,’ and they say, ‘What do you mean?’ I think, ‘My body will now say, ‘ Phew!'”.
Coughlan herself rejected a passive-aggressive comment about her weight when she attended a screening of Bridgerton at the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin, Ireland, earlier this month.
After an assistant told her during a question-and-answer session that she was “very brave” for acting in nude scenes in the show’s third season, Coughlan responded with grace and wit.
“You know, it’s hard, because I think women with my body type, women with perfect breasts,” Coughlan said. ‘We don’t get to see each other enough on screen. I am a proud member of the perfect breasts community and I hope you enjoy seeing them.’
Ashley previously told People that she and co-star Jonathan Bailey offered their support to co-stars Coughlan and Luke Newton (who plays Colin Bridgerton) when they first became leads on the animated series, “They were just there to make sure that they had someone, that they had a friend.
Ashley added: ‘Nicola and I kept tabs on each other. “She is a big inspiration to me and I learned a lot from her, and there were times when she would give me advice.”