Nicola Coughlan 'Specifically Asked' to Be 'Very Naked' in “Bridgerton” Season 3: 'Amazingly Empowering'

The Irish actress said she feels "great" about the nudity, "because not only did I consent to it but I drove it"

Nicola Coughlan took some creative control in the new season of Bridgerton.

The Irish actress, 37, stepped up to the plate on season 3 of the Netflix hit series as she and Luke Newton’s characters, Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton, respectively, star as romantic leads and finally bridge the gap between their friendship and their underlying chemistry.

When it came to filming the more intimate scenes of the season with Newton, 31, Coughlan told Stylist she worked closely with the series’ intimacy coordinator, Lizzy Talbot, to merge the scripts with the choreography, admitting, "I specifically asked for certain lines and moments to be included."

"There’s one scene where I’m very naked on camera, and that was my idea, my choice. It just felt like the biggest ‘f--- you’ to all the conversation surrounding my body; it was amazingly empowering," she said. "I felt beautiful in the moment, and I thought: ‘When I’m 80, I want to look back on this and remember how f---ing hot I looked!'"

Coughlan said she feels "great" about the nudity in the season "because not only did I consent to it but I drove it."

Related: Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan Reveals She and Luke Newton Broke Furniture During Sex Scene: 'Hell Yeah We Did'

The Derry Girls alum told PEOPLE that the "intimacy stuff feels very real" in the new season, the first half of which premiered May 16.

“It feels very grounded in two people that are not trying to sort of, that they're awkward in front of one another, this and that, and all of a sudden they become like Lotharios in the bedroom and whatever, they get to be intimate together in a very real and beautiful way, and I think that's what makes it so affecting.”

“In those intimate moments, they find moments to laugh and you see them figuring it out and doing it together, and I love it,” she added.

Related: Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton's Sweetest Moments: From Filming Bridgerton to Their IRL Friendship

Newton also joked that "you can't really prepare for stripping down naked in front of your friends," but he knew that fans had been patiently awaiting the love story between their characters for two seasons.

“I think there's always been that underlying sort of question mark with these two characters,” he said. “And people have obviously wanted them to get to the point that we're getting to now, so I guess it was always in the back of our minds.”

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The first part of Bridgerton season 3 is now streaming, and part 2 drops on June 13. Seasons 1 and 2 of Bridgerton — as well as its spinoff, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story — are also streaming on Netflix.

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