I personally find the Bridgerton fandom as a whole pretty toxic but don’t care to engage unless it’s hate towards Nicola specifically. I’ve always felt that most Polin fans that came from Bridgerton are more fans of Penelope the character than Nicola the actress. They certainly are more passionate about engaging in fan wars over what is said about Penelope or Polin than defending Nicola from those in their fandom who speak badly about Nicola and her loved ones.

Oh I agree. Liking or disliking a fictional character has never been the same as judging the actor behind them. In fact, sometimes the characters that spark the biggest reactions are the ones played the best.

Being a fan of an actor is a different from being a fan of a character. Characters have their stories, but actors keep growing and becoming someone new every project

If we must indulge facile points, the quote these lukolas like to pull out about Nic illustrates the opposite to their narratives. She mentioned no woman is just someone’s girlfriend to say that women have internal lives and ambitions and struggles and shortcomings outside of any relationship.

She was speaking in the context of the types of roles she wanted to play where the female character isn’t just a prize for the male hero to win or save. Of course for an actor, playing the complexity of human emotions is far more interesting to do.

I know exactly who you're talking about. And I think you said it best: Penelope is a character. Nicola is a real person. Those are two very different things.

I've never understood why some people struggle to separate the two.

And yes,people are allowed to love, dislike, or feel completely indifferent to Penelope. That's the nature of fictional characters. None of that changes who Nicola is or the work she's doing now.

Penelope will always be an incredibly important part of Nicola's career, and I'm so grateful for everything that role gave her. But I also think the greatest compliment you can pay an actor is letting them become someone else.

That's literally the job. Nicola isn't meant to stay Penelope forever.

This is so on point. As an example: Lukola’s will accuse Nic of redacting on her independent woman stance because she took Jake to Cannes. They completely missed the point of the previous speech about not just being someone’s girlfriend.

That whole event was focused on her. She posed for photos alone. She did her Q&A without mention of Jake. She did her podium speech to an enormous audience without mention of Jake. She did all of the press without him in focus. He was simply there as her guest. Yet THEY (not the press or wider GA) criticise, and focus on him - which ironically was the purpose and context of her speech! They are the problem.

I think some people have a very narrow idea of what independence looks like.

Regarding you concern,

From what I see, we, real Nicola's fans are incredibly supportive. We don't need to shout the loudest or make everything a competition to show up for her. We celebrate her work, vote when there's something to vote for, support her projects, and get genuinely excited every time she announces something new.

I also think people sometimes mistake being loud for being supportive. They're not the same thing. Nicola has a really lovely fanbase that appreciates her work without needing to turn everything into a fan war, and I honestly prefer it that way.

In fact, the year that Nicola was nominated for her SAG award was the year that they won best comedy ensemble. And several people have been nominated for guest actor/actress at the Emmys over the years.

It is completely within the realm of possibility that Nicola could be nominated for SAG as a part of the ensemble or even an Emmy for guest appearance; especially if her character does in fact have a real connection to the plot and is not just a walk-on cameo.

Given her costume, I'm hoping she is truly a part of the storyline this year. In that case, a nomination wouldn't be far-fetched.

I remember that! Selena looked genuinely stunned when they won. 😂

I'm not getting ahead of myself when it comes to nominations, but I do think it's encouraging to see the track record the show has. More than anything, I'm just really hoping Nicola has a character that's woven into the mystery!

And now she’s working with some serious heavy hitters of prestige drama with Paul Laverty and Iciar Bollain. They don’t work with just anyone and they’re selective about which stories they tell. The fact that they want to work with Nicola is hugely impressive and reassuring. So I finally feel quite relaxed about the fact that Nic is in a totally different lane to this petty fandom. I’ll also encourage some Nic fans to expand their horizons beyond Bton or Netflix slop to original storytelling by prestigious filmmakers, because we’re going to see Nic attached to a lot more like this i feel!

I don't care nearly enough to laugh at them. It just feels like a waste of time and energy. I'd much rather spend mine getting excited about Nicola's next project.

I never really doubted she'd carve out her own path. She has the talent, the work ethic and, more importantly, the curiosity to keep growing. She genuinely wants to keep learning, work with filmmakers she admires and tell stories that challenge her.

And that's what excites me the most.

It's not the quantity of work, it's the quality. She's building such a varied body of work with people who are respected in completely different corners of the industry.

I think the problem is that some people created a version of Nicola that fit whatever fantasy or narrative they wanted, and then they're disappointed that the real Nicola doesn't match it.

I've never understood the anger behind the archived posts. The photos are still out there, they're not lost forever, and celebrities clean up their feeds all the time. Nicola has done it before, and it usually seems to happen before a new chapter or a new wave of projects.

I also think people sometimes struggle with the fact that actors move on. Bridgerton will always be an important part of Nicola's career, but it doesn't have to be the center of it forever. She's said herself she'll happily come back when Penelope is needed, but she's also clearly excited about exploring new stories, new filmmakers and new challenges.

It’s karmic - Nicola just focuses on her work and the successes keep coming. She’s a class act.

From your lips to the film festival gods!

I honestly don't understand why some people keep doing it, especially when it almost always ends the same way. At this point I've learned not to make assumptions about Nicola's roles (okay... maybe one pirate project still has me holding out hope).

I'm so curious to learn more about the girl with the red curls, but for me it's also the fact that she got to work alongside Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez and the rest of that incredible cast. You just know Nicola had the best time.

All they want is Nicola to play Penelope and outside of that, they want her in a fluffy Netflix rom-com opposite Luke so they can see their shipping fantasies played out onscreen.

Yikes... Nicola has been more than clear about where Bridgerton fits into her career now. She'll be back when Penelope is needed, but she's also made it clear she wants to keep exploring different kinds of stories and characters.

And honestly? I'm so so thrilled. Every new project seems so different from the last, and she's working with incredibly talented people on stories that actually have something to say. I genuinely can't wait to see all of it.

We really picked a good one to stan!

That's definitely a possibility.

It really does seem to be a favorite pastime for some people. Sounds exhausting, honestly.

Nicola has been incredibly intentional with her career, and she keeps proving that she's choosing projects because she believes in them, not because she's trying to win some imaginary competition.

It's definitely a nice recognition.

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