As one character notes, \u201ceveryone is different\u201d.<\/p>\n
Coughlan, who plays Maggie, a 30-year-old writer with bipolar disorder, first met the show\u2019s creator at drama school in Oxford, and it was friends at first sight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you were really funny,\u201d said Whitehill.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI thought you were really funny too<\/em>,\u201d echoed Coughlan. \u201cEveryone else in our class was quite serious, and\u00a0<\/span>I just found Camilla so hilarious. We made each other laugh\u201d \u2013 s<\/span>o much so that they always planned to work together.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know what it was going to be, but <\/span>when I first saw Camilla\u2019s writing on stage, she wrote a short play about an atheist choir, and it was just so hilarious, and so her, I knew we had to. T<\/span>here are people like that who then can\u2019t get it onto the page, but she did. Her voice was there and I was like, \u2018Oh, she\u2019s going to be a famous writer.’\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAnd I always thought that Nicola would make it as an actor because she had something that was different to other people,\u201d said Whitehill. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what you need. You can\u2019t just be the same as everyone else. There was something about her style of acting that I thought was really unique. <\/span>I would always make her do these unpaid short plays. I was always like, \u201cNic, come and do this dumb thing.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And now we find them here, having graduated from \u201cdumb things\u201d (in Whitehill\u2019s words) to Big Mood, although Coughlan was \u201cnever <\/span>asked to do the show\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was never a discussion, it just sort of happened,\u201d she explained. \u201cAnd then I had to say to my agent, \u2018I\u2019m going do this project of Camilla\u2019s, and it\u2019s not commissioned.\u2019 And she was like, \u2018Ok\u2026 there are other things people want you for.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt<\/span>\u00a0is mad having to sell that to someone, because I know Camilla\u2019s a brilliant writer and I had full faith in it even before I\u2019d read a word of it, but it\u2019s very<\/em> hard to sell that to an agent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Maggie is worlds away from \u201cwee lesbian\u201d Claire in Lisa McGee\u2019s Derry Girls, Coughlan\u2019s breakout role, and the bashful, insecure Penelope Featherington in Netflix smash hit Bridgeton<\/a>, which catapulted her rising star to astronomical heights.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never played a character like this, and also just a fully grown adult woman,\u201d she said. \u201c<\/span>It was liberating to play her in lots of ways. She has a lot of confidence, she doesn\u2019t really care what people think, whereas I really do, and wish I did less.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In the show\u2019s opening scene, Maggie whizzes down the middle of a London residential street on an electric scooter, donning a headscarf, sunglasses and cherry red velour tracksuit as she greets passerby like she\u2019s Lady Gaga.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it was also the most challenging part I\u2019ve ever played as well because it goes through the journey of her mental illness, and that\u2019s complicated to depict on screen,\u201d added Coughlan. \u201cI really loved it, it was a very special experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But in the midst of the knotty, weighty subject matter, which charts Maggie\u2019s manic and depressive episodes in unflinching detail, it\u2019s also deeply funny, courtesy of Whitehill\u2019s \u201ccomedy first\u201dapproach.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not much of a message person, I don\u2019t really know what the message is,\u201d she added. \u201cI focused more on trying to make the best, funniest show I can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But even with that emphasis on making viewers laugh, crucially, you\u2019re never laughing at<\/em> Maggie.<\/p>\n \u201cJust don\u2019t punch down,\u201d said Whitehill when discussing how to strike the right balance between entertaining an audience and ensuring that you don\u2019t belittle the subject at hand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen comedy writers or comedians say you can\u2019t talk about anything anymore, you can\u2019t be funny, actually it\u2019s extremely easy, you\u2019re just not good at being a comedy writer. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t need to diminish something, but you can absolutely tease and make fun of anything, as long as you\u2019re doing it with love and care.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time a more obscure, oft-mythologised mental health condition has been tackled on-screen. Anne Hathaway plays a woman with bipolar in the superb Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am episode of Prime Video anthology series Modern Love. <\/span><\/p>\n In 2019, Channel 4 aired Pure, a comedy which explores what it\u2019s like living with obsessive compulsive disorder that manifests as sexually explicit thoughts. But those conditions have yet to pierce public consciousness in the way that depression and anxiety have.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe just don\u2019t talk about it enough, and we\u2019ve left some people behind,\u201d said Whitehill. \u201cWe have left a lot of mental illnesses out of the sort of mental health arena.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Why does she think that\u2019s the case?<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are a little bit scared of what they can\u2019t understand. With depression or anxiety, they are extreme versions of feelings we all have. So not everyone has depression, not everyone has anxiety, but people understand feeling anxious, people understand feeling sad.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut if we\u2019re not talking about it, then how are we ever going to understand it? Perhaps when it\u2019s something where you can\u2019t imagine ever doing or feeling that, maybe that\u2019s a bit confusing and scary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The conversation turned back to why comedy is, despite preconceptions, the perfect vehicle to examine what it truly means to exist with bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n \u201cI really don\u2019t think there\u2019s much you can\u2019t make funny,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd I think when we sort of classify something having to be treated really delicately and be really dramatic and sad, we\u2019re actually just contributing to its taboo. If we just bring it out to the light and treat it like anything else, that\u2019s better for everyone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n As well as liaising <\/span>with Bipolar UK<\/a> to ensure that the writing was as authentic and responsible as possible, Whitehill also drew on her own experiences<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 although she doesn\u2019t \u201creally see writing as an act of therapy\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMostly it\u2019s my job,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n Coughlan went on to explain why using a creative outlet to achieve catharsis can create an uncomfortable working environment.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a general rule I disagree with it,\u201d she said. \u201c<\/span>There\u2019s a real danger in writing or acting as therapy because if you\u2019ve ever been on-screen with someone or on stage or worked with a writer that is trying to work through issues, it\u2019s a mess. No matter what you\u2019re trying to deal with, I think you have to be removed enough from it to deal with it because otherwise it can just be a disaster.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a professional environment. I know that sounds very strict of me to say, but ultimately there\u2019s a crew to consider and your fellow actors. You can still deal with these issues, but you have to do it in an incredibly professional way, in a controlled and safe way. <\/span>I think less so now in the industry, but that was a big thing, actors going method, throwing chairs. And I\u2019m like \u2018who\u2019s that for, though?’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou only threw that one chair,\u201d said Whitehill. \u201cAnd it hit one guy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI only threw one chair,\u201d laughed Coughlan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> But Big Mood isn\u2019t just about what it\u2019s like to live with a mental health disorder. The beating heart of the narrative is the friendship between Maggie and Eddie (It\u2019s A Sin\u2019s Lydia West).<\/p>\n When we meet them, Eddie has already stepped over the threshold into a new decade, while Maggie celebrates her 30th birthday in episode 2 (disastrously, it must be said). But while their love for one another isn\u2019t in any doubt, they\u2019re learning that life, with its many and varied demands, means that they can\u2019t always show up for one another as they\u2019d like to.<\/p>\n \u201cTurning that age, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that we all hit those milestones at the same time,\u201d said Coughlan. \u201c<\/span>Myself and Camilla, when we left drama school, we auditioned to get into a full-time course and neither of us got in. And then Camilla got onto a course somewhere else and I didn\u2019t get in anywhere. And for me it was very much like, where\u2019s my life going? I\u2019ve hit a crossroads.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd this is just a different crossroads that Maggie and Eddie have hit, <\/span>when you start going, \u2018I\u2019m growing up, and you\u2019re going this way, and our roads are not really lining up anymore.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI remember in my late 20s, early 30s, when people would start getting engaged and having babies and you go, \u2018but what does that mean for us?\u2019 It\u2019s a selfish thing, but you also just love your friend. You don\u2019t want to lose that version of them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut sometimes you will,\u201d added Whitehill.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSometimes you will, absolutely,\u201d said Coughlan. \u201cIt <\/span>comes from a place of love and fear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n As the third season of Bridgerton fast approaches, in which Coughlan is now the romantic lead as Penelope and<\/span> Colin\u2019s friends-to-lovers dynamic takes centre stage, the actor is feeling a different kind of fear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI always want to do my best job and not let people down, and it\u2019s wild being on a show that has hundreds of millions of viewers around the world,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd also the character developing from a little girl in season 2 to a grown woman in the third season, I felt terrified.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut this year, with Lydia West and Luke Newton, they were insanely good people to work with, people I just felt like I could tell if I was struggling, because it is a challenge. That was an eight-month shoot, and Big Mood and Bridgerton overlapped for three weeks of that, so you\u2019re running on reserve. But having good people around made all the difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Does Coughlan feel changed now that she\u2019s a household name, not just here in the UK, but in countries across the globe?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m lucky in a weird way because I didn\u2019t really have a lot of success in my \u201920s, so it gave me a lot of time to just live in the real world and be really f**king appreciative of where I am now,\u201d she said. \u201c<\/span>I don\u2019t feel personally any different, and that\u2019s because I have really close friends that I\u2019ve had for years and years, although<\/span> sometimes it\u2019s wild for me.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMyself and Camilla were on holiday in Austin, Texas and these young girls were looking over, but I thought they were looking at Camilla, because of her tattoos. And <\/span>then they started squealing and waving and I was like, \u2018Oh yeah, sure.\u2019 Because you forget sometimes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m just grateful, I feel lucky. I\u2019ve worked with really good people and on projects I\u2019m really passionate about. Bridgerton is a<\/span> really joyful show, and I think it\u2019s lovely that people can see themselves reflected in it. And Shonda Rhimes has done so much in terms of diversity on television and changing what a romantic lead can be.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt means so much to people to be represented, so I\u2019m super proud to be a part of it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Big Mood is available to watch on Channel 4 from Thursday 28th March at 10pm.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our\u00a0Comedy<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0<\/strong>The Radio Times Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n The Channel 4 comedy places bipolar disorder front and centre. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":48696,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/nicola-coughlan-and-camilla-whitehill-on-big-mood-we-have-left-a-lot-of-mental-illnesses-out-of-the-mental-health-arena.png",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/nicola-coughlan-and-camilla-whitehill-on-big-mood-we-have-left-a-lot-of-mental-illnesses-out-of-the-mental-health-arena-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/nicola-coughlan-and-camilla-whitehill-on-big-mood-we-have-left-a-lot-of-mental-illnesses-out-of-the-mental-health-arena-300x200.png",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/nicola-coughlan-and-camilla-whitehill-on-big-mood-we-have-left-a-lot-of-mental-illnesses-out-of-the-mental-health-arena.png",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/nicola-coughlan-and-camilla-whitehill-on-big-mood-we-have-left-a-lot-of-mental-illnesses-out-of-the-mental-health-arena.png",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/nicola-coughlan-and-camilla-whitehill-on-big-mood-we-have-left-a-lot-of-mental-illnesses-out-of-the-mental-health-arena.png",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/nicola-coughlan-and-camilla-whitehill-on-big-mood-we-have-left-a-lot-of-mental-illnesses-out-of-the-mental-health-arena.png",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Channel 4 comedy places bipolar disorder front and centre.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/48695"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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