Nicola Coughlan Is Worlds Away From Bridgerton As Barbie ‘The Diplomat’

Lady Whistledown has gone plastic fantastic.

The first images show how Nicola Coughlan has been transformed as Barbie “the diplomat” for the all-encompassing movie Barbie, which will be released on July 21.

And the Bridgerton actress, 36, is worlds away from her historical drama character, Penelope Featherington, who leads a double life as the anonymous gossip writer.

With a star-studded cast including Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Helen Mirren, Nicola becomes a version of the iconic Mattel doll.

In a promotional photo released Tuesday, Nicola stars in a metallic glitter dress with puffy pink sleeves.

Introducing Nicola, Barbie shared a photo of the actress’s character and wrote, “This Barbie is a diplomat.”

The film features a diverse cast with characters that are a far cry from the blonde plastic doll who has come under scrutiny over the years for conveying an unrealistic body image to girls.

It’s the first time it’s been officially confirmed that Derry Girls star Nicola will be making a cameo appearance.

Last year, the movie star hinted at starring in the production. At the time, she confirmed that she was starring in a project alongside Doctor Who’s Ncuti Gatwa.

This sparked rumors that she would star in Doctor Who after she posed with Ncuti, 30, at the BAFTA TV Awards just hours after he was confirmed as the 14th Doctor in the BBC show.

Nicholas told Variety: ‘We’re doing something together, but it’s not Doctor Who.’

The Derry Girls actress instead teased that Sex Education’s Ncuti had already been announced for the mystery project, but she hadn’t yet.

Ncuti hinted that their joint project is the upcoming Barbie movie as he shared a photo of the couple on Instagram alongside the caption “a pair of dolls.”

New role: The Bridgerton actress, 36, is worlds away from her historical drama character Penelope Featherington

Plastic fantastic: It’s the first time it’s been officially confirmed that Derry Girls star Nicola will make a cameo after Doctor Who’s Ncuti Gatwa teased they were working on a secret project

Star-studded: The film features a diverse cast that is a world away from the iconic blonde plastic doll. Helen Mirren plays the narrator

With Margot leading the all-inclusive cast, Hari Nef plays a doctor’s version of the doll, while Sharon Rooney plays a Barbie lawyer and Alexandra Shipp is an author.

The cast also includes Kingsley Ben-Adir, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Rhea Pearlman, Emerald Fennell, Scott Evans, Ritu Aryau, Jamie Demetriou and Marisa Abela.

Details about the upcoming live-action film, which was shot last July, were closely guarded, but a teaser trailer was released in December.

The trailer saw Margot embody Barbie in a black and white one-piece swimsuit as she posed on a beach as kids stared at her before tossing out their own baby dolls.

The scene was a twist on the imposing monolith in the classic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, using the sci-fi film’s score to make it clear that Barbie is a mysterious new marvel.

Ryan also appeared as Ken wearing a black top and headband with friends, including Ncuti, around him.

In another scene, Barbie was seen looking glamorous in a sparkly silver dress as she danced the night away at a club.

There was also a preview of Barbie’s plastic world – a pink city that resembled the popular Barbie toys of the 1980s, including pink and white mansions and convertibles.

The film is based on Mattel’s fashion doll line, which CEO Mattell Ynon Kreiz said the company expected the Barbie product to continue to grow, adding, “We couldn’t be more excited about Barbie’s long-term prospects.” ‘

The Barbie brand generated over £1 billion in gross sales last year and the doll turned 64 this week, first debuting with the original on March 9, 1959.

The highly anticipated live-action movie will be released in July 2023.

Exciting! Details about the upcoming live-action movie are well preserved, but a teaser trailer was released in December starring Margot Robbie