In a column for RTÉ, Nicola Coughlan argues that her new Channel 4 drama I Am Helen will encourage people in abusive relationships to seek help.
The two-part drama begins on Channel 4 on Monday, 16 November at 9pm, RTÉ reported. The series was developed with writer-director Dominic Savage, who collaborates with his leading actors on improvised stories for each season of the I Am anthology. Host Patrick Kielty told Coughlan on The Late Show that the project “couldn’t be more timely”.
“Unfortunately so,” Coughlan replied on the RTÉ programme.
The project focuses on the breakdown of an intimate relationship where violence occurs, pushing the main character to attempt an escape. Coughlan stars opposite Joe Cole, who plays her boyfriend Steve.
The production process relied entirely on unscripted collaboration between the cast and crew. Actors arrive on set without a script to develop the narrative organically.
“[The fear levels] every day of going into work, you’re like, ‘I can’t do it. It’s too much’,” Coughlan told RTÉ.
She added that she felt sick with nerves during the shoot and questioned quitting on multiple days, according to reporting by the Connacht Tribune.
The project inadvertently tackled the online “manosphere” and digital misogyny, a theme the actress explored further while appearing on BBC One’s The Graham Norton Show. Cole portrays a normal man who slowly descends down a damaging path rather than acting as a cartoonish villain.
Kielty asked Coughlan what needs to change to protect women within the entertainment industry and wider society following the conviction of Russell Brand.
“I don’t think it’s just in our business. I think it’s all over,” Coughlan told RTÉ.
She added that abuse happens inside homes rather than simply involving strangers in dark alleys, pointing to social media clickbait and a lack of basic conversations as contributing factors.
“I think it starts very young,” Coughlan said on the show. “It starts [by] having conversations with not even young men [but] boys about respecting women.”
Coughlan said that she refused to participate in the project if the narrative lacked a path to safety.
“I didn’t want to tell the story of someone in an abusive situation,” Coughlan told RTÉ. “I didn’t want to tell something miserable. I needed to know that there was a way out of it.”
She acknowledged that leaving remains the most dangerous phase of an abusive relationship.
“And that’s hard to say because everyone knows that in abusive relationships, the most dangerous time is when someone tries to leave,” Coughlan told RTÉ. “But, you know, to talk to your friends, to talk to your co-workers. And if you can, there will be people to help you and a way out.”
Worth a look