Nicola Coughlan, who plays Northern Irish schoolgirl Clare Devlin in Derry Girls, has revealed that she “cried and cried” when she finished reading the scripts for the final season of the iconic show.
The comedy series Derry Girls, which follows a group of teenagers in Derry during the Troubles in the 1990s, shot to fame after its release in 2018 and has since become one of the most popular TV shows, winning many awards and nominations.
Since her stardom in Derry Girls, Nicola has gone on to appear in the hit Netflix series Bridgerton and will be starring in her new comedy audio series Whistle Through The Shamrocks which has a star-studded voice cast.
In an interview with RadioTimes.com, she shared that she starts filming Derry Girls season 3 this week in Belfast, after finishing filming season two of Bridgerton.
Talking about the third and final season, she revealed: “I think it’s a lot more of an epic scale this time. Lisa [McGee, the show’s creator] knew she had huge ambitions with this one, [with] what she wanted to do. She’s a genius. Like, there’s not really any other word for her.
"She just – everything is so brilliantly balanced and nuanced and the characters, there’s so much detail in every single character in those scripts.”
The season 2 finale was left on an optimistic note with English boy James (Dylan Llewellyn) back-tracking on his decision to leave Derry and reuniting with his friends. But one moment that was particularly admired by fans was when James took Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) to the prom at the last minute. Ever since the touching moment, fans have been hopeful that romance could be on the cards for the two characters.
When Nicola was asked about this potential blossoming romance, she said, “I don’t think I can say much about specific things like about James and Erin, but I think there’s no way people are going to be disappointed.”
She also opened up about how emotional she felt after reading the scripts for the final season: “It’s really magical. I cried and cried and cried when I finished reading the scripts. Because, you know, it’s our last one. It’s bittersweet, but I think we’re sending it off in style.”
Both seasons of Derry Girls are available to stream on All 4.
