Nicola Coughlan age: How old is Bridgerton’s Penelope Featherington?

Nicola Coughlan first rose to fame as Clare Devlin in Channel 4 series Derry Girls. Since then, the actress has captured the hearts of the nation in Netflix period drama Bridgerton as the daughter of Lord and Lady Featherington, Penelope. But how old is the Bridgerton star?

How old is Nicola Coughlan?

The actress was born on 9 January 1987, making Nicola 34 years old.

Bridgerton is set in the Regency period and follows young girls as young as 16 entering society in its debut season.

Nicola’s character Penelope is said to be 17 when she enters society alongside her two sisters Philippa and Prudence.

Many of the actress’s fans have taken to social media to compliment her youthful appearance since Bridgerton was released on Netflix.

One fan wrote: “Like Nicola Coughlan aka Penelope is 34, the girl who drank from the fountain of youth #bridgerton.”

Another wrote: “Oh my gosh I also just found out Nicola Coughlan is an ’87er and because Penelope is also playing a character the same age as Eloise. They don’t look their age.”

A third added: “I just found out Nicola Coughlan is basically my age but looks 16 and it’s DISAPPOINTING ME. Like, how??? Magic?”

The star celebrated her birthday last weekend and posted about her celebrations to her 754,000 Instagram followers.

At the time, she shared how she and her friends, including Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness, celebrated online on Zoom.

Posting a series of snaps from the video call, she wrote: “My best friends had the best birthday in lockdown and I love them so much.”

The star went on to talk about how she was the subject of the call with her friends dressing up as roles she has played over the years.

She continued: “They all dressed up as me in different incarnations, swipe to see The Wee Lesbian because you’ve never seen her before.”

Nicola is also known for her youthful appearance in her role on hit sitcom Derry Girls.

In the show, she plays Clare Devlin, a high school student at Our Lady Immaculate School for Girls.

The actress has since spoken about how she relates to her roles as Clare and Penelope, admitting that she would find it difficult to play a teenager in modern times.

“It’s very different playing a teenager today,” she explained to the Guardian.