Nicola Coughlan is stepping away from the romance of Bridgerton and the fantasty of The Magic Faraway Tree, and toward something altogether more radical, messy, dark and – unfortunately – all too familiar.
She'll be appearing as part of Channel 4's female-led anthology series tackling the "manosphere" called I Am Helen. Here's what we know so far about it.
What is it about?
In I Am Helen, the latest instalment of Channel 4’s female-led anthology, Coughlan plays a woman watching her partner slip into the shapeshifting online ecosystem of the "manosphere". Over on Instagram, Coughlan described filming the project as "equal parts deeply terrifying and deeply liberating," if that gives you any indication of what you expect.
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The show, developed with creator Dominic Savage treats the topic like a slow infection, one that seeps into relationships almost invisibly. Think Adolescence or Black Mirror.
Why tackle the manosphere now?
Coughlan, who has spent the past few years becoming the kind of star people project softness onto, feels like a deliberate choice here. There’s a knowingness to her casting, a suggestion that the damage isn’t happening somewhere else, to other women, but close, domestic, recognisable.
The manosphere has been everywhere lately, debated and dissected, but often from a distance that feels curiously detached – even Louis Theroux's most recent Netflix documentary tackled the subject head-on. This show promises the opposite: a view from inside the relationship, where love and ideology start to tangle.
And maybe that’s why it lands differently. Coughlan isn’t just exploring a cultural phenomenon; she’s tracing how it reshapes the smallest, most private spaces. It’s less about explaining the manosphere than asking what it does to people who thought they were safe from it.
Which is, perhaps, the most unsettling premise of all: that the story isn’t happening somewhere online, but right at home.
When will it premiere?
There is no premiere date yet, but we'll keep you updated as we know more.
