Nicola Coughlan to step into fairy age in first appearance in new series
A first look at Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan’s starring role in the upcoming adaptation of Enid Blyton’s beloved The Magic Faraway Tree has been revealed.
Based on The Faraway Tree series of novels, The Magic Faraway Tree tells the story of Polly and Tim Thompson and their children, Beth, Joe and Fran, who move to a remote — mystical, magical — part of the English countryside. There, the children discover a magical tree and its extraordinary and eccentric inhabitants.
Coughlan has been cast as the woodland fairy Silky and in her first appearance, which the Derry Girls star shared on her Instagram, she is seen peering out from the trees in bright sunlight.
The teaser for her new project comes after Coughlan spoke about filming the upcoming fourth season of Bridgerton, in which she plays Penelope Featherington.
‘It’s been great to take a step back and let them [the new romantic leads] do all the work,’ Coughlan told E! News at the Time Next 100 event in New York City in October. ‘We’ve been shooting [Bridgerton] for about a month now. But I can go in and out, so I get to go to New York, which I couldn’t do last year, so it’s been great.’
‘It’s going to be amazing,’ the Derry Girls star added. ‘Luke and Yerin are working hard. They’re having a great time.’
The rest of The Magic Faraway Tree’s cast is similarly star-studded. Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield will play the children’s parents Polly and Tim, while Ted Lasso’s Nonso Anozie will play Moonface and Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning will play Dame Washalot. British icons Sirs Lenny Henry, Michael Palin and Simon Russell Beale have also been announced and will play a trio of mystical wise men from the Land of the Wise.