{"id":5663,"date":"2026-04-20T23:23:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T23:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/?p=5663"},"modified":"2026-04-23T14:57:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:57:27","slug":"nicola-coughlan-lydia-west-on-big-mood-friendship-breakups-falling-for-wellness-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/nicola-coughlan-lydia-west-on-big-mood-friendship-breakups-falling-for-wellness-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicola Coughlan & Lydia West On Big Mood, Friendship Breakups & Falling For Wellness Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Every time someone asks me for a show to watch, I instantly suggest the Tubi original <\/a>series, Big Mood.<\/a> <\/em>An underrated gem! When I discovered Big Mood,<\/em> I fell in love with its dark comedy, whimsy, and its unique way of talking about mental health<\/a> and healing. The first season of Big Mood<\/em> made me laugh, cry, and say \u201cWTF\u201d very loudly at my TV. The second season of the hit comedy Big Mood <\/em>is written and created by Camilla Whitehill <\/a>and stars Nicola Coughlan<\/a> and Lydia West<\/a> as best friends, Maggie (Coughlan) and Eddie (West). \u00a0<\/p>\n

When we left the two best friends<\/a> in the final episode of Season 1, Maggie had just experienced a very awful case of lithium poisoning that left her unable to be there for Eddie in her time of need. Eddie, who had just sold her beloved father\u2019s bar, wanted to get away to LA. When the two are finally face-to-face, Eddie suitcase in hand and Maggie unable to find the words to apologize, we are left wondering what will happen next to this dynamic and very co-dependent duo. After constantly checking Tubi<\/a> for months for the arrival of Season 2, it is finally here, and I couldn\u2019t wait to hit play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This season kicks off with a shocking twist: Maggie and Eddie<\/a> have not spoken in a year! Before I had time to process this plot point, the show takes us on a darkly comedic, uniquely absurd ride, starting with a wacky shenanigan-filled wedding episode. Since this is what I love about this series, I was strapped in and ready to go. Spoiler alert: to Maggie\u2019s shock, Eddie does return. She shows up with a new best friend, an American light healer influencer named Whitney (Hannah Onslow<\/a>). This really shakes Maggie\u2019s confidence in getting Eddie back into her life and their friendship. The season then dives deep into how much Eddie\u2019s friendship means to Maggie and the lengths she goes to save it as it slowly slips away, possibly for good this time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While this season focuses on Eddie\u2019s struggles rather than Maggie\u2019s, it still centers on healing and friendship, which are two major themes that tie the series together. I was able to talk to creator Camilla Whitehall and stars Coughlan and West about Big Mood <\/em>Season 2, their thoughts on healing, and the woo-woo scams that we all fall for. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Refinery29:<\/strong> Last season, we focused on Maggie\u2019s mental health and her struggles. Why did you choose this specific struggle for Eddie? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Camilla Whitehall:<\/strong> We kind of queue it up right in the first season. I think Eddie is someone who does not like to face her own feelings or her own weaknesses. She\u2019s someone who likes to seem strong and be the strong one. I think that\u2019s a big part of her perceived identity. But in the background, always is this grief for her dad that she doesn\u2019t speak about often. I think it would be easy to do another season where Maggie\u2019s in a crisis and Eddie has to help, but that\u2019s not life, is it? And that\u2019s not friendship. <\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve always been quite an anxious person\u2026 Feeling where the anxiety is in your body and breathing into that is incredibly, incredibly helpful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

nicola coughlan<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

I think that when you are friends with someone long enough, it comes and goes, ebbs and flows. You can be the one in charge, or then you are, then you\u2019re the baby, then you\u2019re mummy, then you\u2019re the baby. Eddie\u2019s life reached a critical mass. She lost the bar that belonged to her dad. I wanted to look at how she responded to that. And my instinct was that she wouldn\u2019t respond well to it because she\u2019s not good at dealing with her own problems; she\u2019s great at dealing with someone else\u2019s, but she doesn\u2019t want to look at her own. I wanted to look at how we recover from something. I always wanted the series to be about healing and what is real recovery, and what is commodified healing, and what we\u2019re sold and told that we can pay for.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I really like the road you took there, and Eddie wants a quick fix. I think it was very interesting to see that play out. So, the girls don\u2019t talk to each other for a whole year. Could you not speak to your own best friend for a whole year?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lydia West:<\/strong> <\/strong>No, no, I couldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nicola Coughlan:<\/strong> <\/strong>No. That would rip me to shreds. I don\u2019t have a load of people that I\u2019m very close to. And if one of those people is even a bit off with me, if I think they\u2019re a bit pissed off, I\u2019m like, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong? Are you okay?\u201d [laughs]<\/em> I just need to address it head-on. \u200aI couldn\u2019t, no. Not for a year. Jesus. \u00a0<\/p>\n

So, ghosting your best friend for a year is an unforgivable offense? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

NC: <\/strong>No, but I mean, it can go [differently]. Some of my closest friends are back in Ireland, and we\u2019ll go ages just without talking. There\u2019s no weight behind it. Everyone\u2019s busy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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LW:<\/strong> Yeah. I think there\u2019s a difference. Having distance from someone naturally is very different from knowing there\u2019s been conflict without any resolution, and it changes your patterns or behavior. For Eddie and Maggie, it\u2019s not normal for them not to talk for that long when they are very, very codependent. And it\u2019s a shock to the system for Maggie not knowing whether Eddie is going to attend this wedding or come back into her life. Because she hasn\u2019t just disappeared from her life, she\u2019s disappeared from social media. She proclaims that she\u2019s out of the matrix. She has no cell phone. She\u2019s completely unreachable. Which, in this day and age, is very scary and hard to imagine. I think when Eddie comes back in Season 2, and we see that introduction, it is a huge shock to see. Who is this person? Is she brainwashed? Something\u2019s not right. Something\u2019s not right in their friendship, but what is it? And then as the season goes on, we learn what that is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CW:<\/strong> I think that would be awful. I can\u2019t imagine not speaking to someone for a year and then coming back together. Maggie has probably felt very lonely. It was important for me to try to get that across. It\u2019s been a lonely year for her. Just trying to get better, and I don\u2019t think Eddie can be lonely. Not speaking for a year, that\u2019s very intense. When you\u2019re not speaking to someone, everything builds up in your head. You rehearse the conversations you\u2019re going to have and what you\u2019re going to say. Then, when it comes down to it, you don\u2019t say any of it. \u00a0<\/p>\n

A year! Oh my God. I\u2019d pass out. Why was it important to expand Maggie and Eddie\u2019s world with their friends? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

CW:<\/strong> The arc of last season was a lot about Maggie\u2019s mental health and about how she was in crisis. That season was built around that. You also have to set up a whole world. You have to set up all these characters. You just don\u2019t have as much time for fun. What I found really enjoyable about writing the second season was having a bit more space for that. Let\u2019s just have fun, see what happens with them, and have that little bit of extra time to flesh them out a bit more. It\u2019s why I was so hopeful to get a second season because I was like, there are a lot of characters that we\u2019ve barely met, that I have so much more I want to do with, and that I think are really fun to write. But you need the time, so it\u2019s good to have it this time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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I was interested in the ways we are sold wellness and healing. It makes you feel like you\u2019re constantly less than. It preys on people who just want to feel better quickly, which is very understandable. <\/p>\n

\u2018big mood\u2019 creator Camilla Whitehall<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

And it was fantastic. So, both characters are on their own self-care ritual journeys. What is your mantra when you\u2019re going through a hard time? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

LW:<\/strong> I do tapping. I\u2019ve done tapping therapy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NC:<\/strong> Oh, wow. \u00a0<\/p>\n

LW:<\/strong> And I tap and I say, you are safe in your body.<\/em> And I tell myself, I\u2019m safe here. <\/em>The whole thing when I\u2019m going through a hard time is I feel fundamentally unsafe. The second I tap and get into my body and tell myself I\u2019m safe, I then begin to realize that things externally can\u2019t affect me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NC:<\/strong> That\u2019s so interesting. I have a way more rudimentary form. I\u2019ve always been quite an anxious person. But yeah, it\u2019s about finding [the anxiety] and trying not to rationalize it. I always think if I can rationalize my way out of anything, I\u2019ll be fine. But [it\u2019s important] to know that sometimes the things that you\u2019re feeling are not rational, it\u2019s a nervous system thing. So feeling where the anxiety is in your body and breathing into that is incredibly, incredibly helpful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CW:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think it\u2019s always good to remember that everything changes all the time, so the way you feel isn\u2019t permanent. The way that things are playing out isn\u2019t permanent, even when you\u2019re stuck in a situation that feels really unfixable. Things shift and change, and people shift and change, and time does heal. I think you also have to give yourself grace and let yourself rest. It\u2019s a big thing I\u2019ve learned: I don\u2019t buy into the propaganda that we should all be sprinting around, working 24\/7. It\u2019s all nonsense. We are\u00a0 on our one life, and you need to look after yourself. Let\u2019s just all try and look after each other and ourselves, because if you are not looking after yourself, how the hell are you gonna look after someone else? To misquote RuPaul. [laughs]<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Yes. As RuPaul once said! Do you think that you put some of that into the characters this season? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

CW:<\/strong> Sure. I think this season was really about healing for me in different ways. I think when Maggie is on a more authentic route to recovery, and Eddie is trying to kind of buy her way to recovery, Eddie doesn\u2019t want to really look at herself. I think she finds that almost impossible and painful. I was interested in the ways we are sold wellness and healing. It makes you feel like you\u2019re constantly less than. It preys on people who just want to feel better quickly, which is a very understandable feeling. There\u2019s nothing you can buy that\u2019s gonna make you happy. There\u2019s no like path to happiness. You just have to try and reckon with yourself. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, now I need to ask you what modern woo-woo wellness scam have you fallen for? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

NC:<\/strong> I did oil pulling for a while. [laughs]<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

LW: <\/strong>What\u2019s that? \u00a0<\/p>\n

NC<\/strong>: You put coconut oil in your mouth and you like swell it between your teeth for ages to get rid of the bacteria from your mouth and to, like whiten your teeth. I don\u2019t know. [laughs]<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

LW:<\/strong> That sounds gorgeous. \u00a0<\/p>\n

NC:<\/strong> But also, it\u2019s kind of gross \u2019cause you can\u2019t spit it down the drain \u2019cause it\u2019s oil. So you have to spit it into another receptacle. It\u2019s kind of gross. That was a long time ago. I haven\u2019t thought about it in ages. \u00a0<\/p>\n

LW:<\/strong> How long did you do it for? \u00a0<\/p>\n

NC:<\/strong> I did it for like a while. I was pretty much a very unsuccessful, unemployed actor for most of my 20s. [laughs] <\/em>I didn\u2019t have a lot of money and had a lot of time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

CW:<\/strong> I\u2019m not a big faller for things. I love to argue. I\u2019m not a big buyer into stuff. That having been said, the amount of money I\u2019ve spent on skincare products should be studied, like the mask with the lights on it. What does that do? Why did I spend 350 pounds on it? Does it do anything? Or am I just wearing a mask with lights in it? I will fall for that. I\u2019ll fall for something that\u2019s like, \u201cthis is gonna give you perfect skin.\u201d [laughs]<\/em>. I\u2019ll be like, \u201cGreat, I\u2019m in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gimme 12 right now! <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

CW:<\/strong> I know that there\u2019s nothing you can buy or nothing you can sell me that\u2019s gonna give perfect mental health forever. So, I think I\u2019m beyond that, but I think it\u2019s really easy to believe that, especially if you haven\u2019t had a lot of therapy or if you haven\u2019t figured things out. It\u2019s very easy to believe that there\u2019s a little route that you can take. \u00a0<\/p>\n

That is true. There\u2019s always space for a Whitney to come into all our lives. <\/strong>[laughs]<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

CW:<\/strong> If they meet you at a particularly vulnerable moment, when you need that quick fix, anyone can fall for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All six episodes of<\/em> Big Mood Season 2 are streaming now on Tubi.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. <\/em><\/p>\n

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why Nicola Coughlan Was Told To Lie About Her Age<\/a><\/p>\n

Nicola Coughlan Is Ready To Spill Her Secrets<\/a><\/p>\n

Nicola Coughlan & Luke Newton On Bridgerton BFFdom<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every time someone asks me for a show to watch, I instantly suggest the Tubi original series, Big Mood. An underrated gem! When I discovered Big Mood, I fell in love with its dark comedy, whimsy, and its unique way of talking about mental health and healing. The first season of Big Mood made me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5663"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5663"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5669,"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5663\/revisions\/5669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/baldheadedgirls.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}