Nicola Coughlan urges stronger action as she warns of rising toxic masculinity
Nicola Coughlan is done sugarcoating a societal blind spot she says we keep shrugging off.
In I Am Helen, Nicola Coughlan plays a woman watching her five-year relationship fray as her partner slips into the online “manosphere.” The one-off drama is part of Channel 4’s female-led anthology from BAFTA winner Dominic Savage, and it pairs Coughlan with Joe Cole as Steve — a boyfriend whose growing diet of misogynistic content starts to warp their day-to-day life.
While discussing the project with Deadline, the Bridgerton star made it clear the story isn’t just on-screen homework. She said the conversation needs to shift from telling young women how to protect themselves to looking squarely at the men whose behavior makes those warnings necessary.
“Toxic masculinity is on the rise among young men. So much responsibility is placed on young women to stay safe and protect themselves from dangerous situations, but we also need to ask who the perpetrators are.”
Coughlan also stressed that the episode avoids easy villains. Cole’s Steve isn’t written as a monster — he’s recognizable, which is the point. The damage creeps in through small changes and everyday interactions, not mustache-twirling.
“Joe Cole’s character, Steve, isn’t a caricature of a bad guy. Helen is an ordinary woman who’s been in this relationship for a long time. I hope that normality speaks to people,” Coughlan told Deadline.
Inside I Am Helen
Created, written and directed by Savage, Channel 4’s I Am anthology hands each film to a lead actress and builds the story around issues they want to explore. In Coughlan’s installment, that means tracking how algorithm-fed content can seep into a couple’s private world and push them apart without a single headline-grabbing incident.
The network is rolling out the film in the U.K. No U.S. release details or streaming plans were mentioned in the Deadline interview.