Jun
16
Nicola Coughlan Revealed She Auditioned To Be On "Stranger Things" Before We Knew Her On "Bridgerton"
"She was far better than I ever would have been."
Turns out, Nicola Coughlan — who plays Penelope Featherington in Bridgerton — initially tried out for a very different Netflix role.
Liam Daniel / Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Yup, Nicola auditioned for the role of Robin in Stranger Things. If you need a quick refresher, Robin's character joined the show in Season 3 as Steve's Scoops Ahoy coworker. Of course, the part ended up going to Maya Hawke.
Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
So, when we asked Nicola over Zoom about what roles she had auditioned for but didn't get, she replied, "I auditioned for Stranger Things a number of years ago."
Mike Marsland / WireImage / Getty Images
"I auditioned to play Robin, Maya Hawke got it," Nicola told BuzzFeed. "She was far better than I ever would have been."
Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
"It's a good lesson to actors: Watch the stuff you didn't get, because you'll totally understand how it's not personal."
David M. Benett / Getty Images
"You're just right for some things, and you're not right for other things," she continued.
Liam Daniel / Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
If you're interested how Maya landed the role, she was originally recommended to casting director Carmen Cuba by another actor for a different project. In the words of Maya herself, "When the new season was being written, there was a part in it and I got to audition for it. I flew to LA, and I did some chemistry reads with Joe Keery, who’s just so wonderful and hysterical and lovely — and then it was history."
Rachel Murray / Getty Images for Netflix
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