Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West: ‘Being surrounded by women is vital for your survival’

Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West have starred in some of the biggest TV shows of the decade. 

Bridgertonand Derry Girlshave helped Irish superstar Coughlan on her way to becoming, arguably, one of the most talked-about actors of her generation. She has had a busy few years, with roles in Doctor Who, Barbie and recently The Magic Faraway Tree.

West starred in Russell T Davies’ widely acclaimed It’s a Sinand Years and Years. 

Together, they bring their talents to Channel 4’s Big Mood, a comedy-drama back for its second series. Best friends Maggie (Coughlan) and Eddie (West) share a deep love for each other, but their friendship is turbulent. Maggie has bipolar disorder and that impacts their lives in funny and dark ways. 

Big Issue chats with the pair about friendship and mental health, navigating life as young women, and what they think the world could do better. 

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What do you think are the big issues affecting young women today?

Lydia West: I don’t even know where to begin. Gender politics. The cost of living crisis. Just the state of the world… 

Nicola Coughlan: How much more acceptable it has become to be a misogynist is worrying. It’s gotten so much worse, even in the last 10 years. These social media companies are being run by people that seem not to have any respect for women. It’s pretty grim. 

How important is it to have female friends?

LW: Being surrounded by women is vital for your survival as a woman. It’s important to have female friends, mentors, colleagues, to feel safe. Big Mood is female centric, behind the camera and in front of the camera. It is incredible. 

NC: My whole life, I’ve relied strongly on female friends. My best friends have been there through most of my life, through ups and down. I think Big Mood shows the danger of being too codependent. Maggie and Eddie are an example of two people cutting out the rest of the world and how dangerous that can be. 

What have you learnt about mental illness from Big Mood?

NC: How underrepresented people with bipolar disorder feel. I have had a lot of people come up to me and tell me they have bipolar. My mum’s friend is a psychologist and said it’s the truest representation of bipolar disorder she has seen on television. That’s a point of pride. It’s so important to have representation. It’s a misunderstood disorder. 

LW: I’ve been able to bring conversations into my own life and understand how mental illness, and how antipsychotic drugs, affect people in different ways. It has helped me to connect with people I know who have mental illnesses. 

We all have mental struggles to varying degrees – how have you navigated those in your lives?

NC: Everyone has struggles. Myself and friends will say: “It’s crazy that I’m feeling like this.” But it’s normal. If you can, talk to someone. Do everything in baby steps. It’s not easy to turn things around in a day but little things can help you feel better. 

Eddie and Maggie have big dreams. What were your dreams growing up?

NC: I wanted to be an actor from four years old. I knew strongly and immediately that that was what I wanted to do.

LW: I wanted to be a vet. I would dream of spending the day with animals and not speaking to humans.

What are your biggest dreams now?

NC: Gosh. Aside from doing good work with good people, it’s having a good work-life balance. I’ve been very lucky the last two and a half years to be extremely busy, but sometimes I realise I haven’t got back to a friend in two months. If I could feel more on top of that, that would be amazing.

LW: I’ve spent a lot of my life chasing – validation, success, the way I looked… It always felt like a race. In my 30s and after some personal work, I think my big dream is being OK in myself.

What have you learnt about yourselves over the last few years?

NC: It sounds stupid, but I didn’t realise how introverted I am. My sister says: “I don’t know how you didn’t know. You’ve always been like that.” As a kid in company, I’d just sit there and then take myself to the bathroom. It’s not about not wanting to be with other people. I’m just not a social butterfly.

I think I’m very much the same person as I was when I was teeny tiny. That kid didn’t love being around loads of people. I feel quite shy one-on-one with people I don’t know very well. Even with friends, there’s very few people that I really feel myself around. But that’s fine.

LW: As a reformed people pleaser, I’ve learnt that it’s OK to not fawn over people. In our generation, and as women, we often go out of our way to make people feel comfortable in a room. A lot of people don’t do that for us (AKA the opposite gender). You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. 

Read more:

• ‘I’m very privileged’: Nicola Coughlan on Doctor Who and mixing politics and pop culture
• Doctor Who star Nicola Coughlan: ‘What a privilege to be part of people’s Christmases’
• Mint creator Charlotte Regan: ‘There’s kids out there that could be better than Scorsese’

What was the defining event of your youth? 

NC: When I was little, seeing The Wizard of Oz for the first time made me want to be an actor. And Mean Girls – I thought: “This is brilliant. I want to be brilliant like that.”

LW: I remember going to the theatre as a treat and seeing the performers every night and thinking: “You do this?!” Now I know it’s eight shows a week.

NC: It’s killer. It’s hard.

LW: But it was inspiring and beautiful. I remember thinking: You’ve cracked the code of what it feels like to be human.

When did you feel like you had hit the big time?

NC: I don’t think it’s ever good to feel like that. Part of the joy of being an actor is finishing a job and starting from scratch again. Filming The Magic Faraway Tree with Michael Palin, one of my all-time heroes, was a huge moment. But I don’t think I thought: “I’ve made it.” I was just like: “I am so lucky. I can’t believe this is happening.”

LW: I agree. I feel privileged to be offered a show like this, to be sent scripts, to be working, to be able to take time off. Just to be doing what you love for a living is a huge privilege. That’s making it for me.

Do you still experience imposter syndrome?

NC: God, yeah. I think every woman does. But it has to be tempered. I have friends that are like: “I have no idea why I got this job.” I tell them: “You have to trust the people that gave it to you.” It’s hard to work with people who need constant reassuring. That’s not anyone else’s emotional labour but yours. You have to have a word with yourself and say: “There’s a reason I was hired and I’ve just got to do the best job I can do.”

What is your current Big Issue?

NC: I was listening to a podcast yesterday about Russian bot farms – how we are being fed ideas on social media, the rise of AI and not being able to tell what’s real and what’s not. It will have such a detrimental effect on the world. I try to delete social media and only download it if I have to post something for work. I feel far better for it.

LW: I’ve just become a mother and I think there’s a lot of pitting women against each other who are choosing to have children or choosing not to have children. If you choose to have children, that’s great, but if you choose not to have children, that’s also great. It shouldn’t be a debate.

What’s your big idea to save the world?

NC: More understanding. More grace. We’re living in a polarised world. It’s far easier to be polarising when all your opinions are just on the internet. We’ve got to start seeing more similarities between each other than the differences.

LW: More love. More generosity. Anything that is trying to gain peace and harmony for our friends, family, neighbours – whether that be physically or across the pond. More compassion would go a long way.

Big Mood Season 2 is on Thursdays 10pm, Channel 4 and streaming

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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