Nicola Coughlan, an actress everyone is talking about, will be starring in I Am Helen. Nicola first gained fame from Derry Girls and subsequently became a household name from Bridgerton, and now she is doing something that is very different and brave.Coughlan is slated to star in the next season of I Am on Channel 4 as Helen, and it wasn't until recently that it was revealed what this latest season is going to be about. Looking at the plot, and it is obvious why this particular season has created so much buzz.I Am Helen is going to be a look at the Manosphere, an online subculture that has been responsible for a lot of the misogynistic posts and videos seen over the past couple of years. The culture has been completely aggressive online, on social media, and now it is coming into communities and into the mainstream. The show's main way of travelling through the Manosphere's web is from a woman's perspective, which has not been well documented by mainstream news.Helen, played by Coughlan, basically watches her romantic interest, played by Peaky Blinders' Joe Cole, fall further and further into this lifestyle. The series explores how that type of influence gradually destroys a relationship from within. There is no word yet on when Channel 4 will air I Am Helen, and they also are not making any public statements about the storyline for the show, but filming ended last year, so we can hope it is coming soon.There is an additional layer of excitement surrounding the timing of everything here. The plot for the show was released just after Louis Theroux's Netflix documentary about the manosphere premiered, after which there were multiple discussions regarding whether or not the documentary had sufficiently addressed what the experiences of women in relation to the manosphere look like. I Am Helen seems to have almost been created specifically for that purpose.Who is behind I Am Helen, and more details on the seriesI Am is arguably one of the most high-profile drama projects to have been produced by Channel 4 in the last couple of years. The works have been developed in collaboration with the actresses who star in them by BAFTA winner Dominic Savage. Each story is based on a real-life experience of women. Much of the dialogue is improvised. With the improvised dialogue comes a raw authenticity that is very difficult to replicate.Previous seasons have starred Kate Winslet, Letitia Wright, Lesley Manville, Vicky McClure, and Samantha Morton, along with Emmy Award-winning producers Me+You Productions.The latest season, I Am Ruth, featured Kate Winslet with her real-life daughter Mia Threapleton. The story explored social media addiction and the mental health issues facing teenagers. Winslet received a BAFTA award for her role in the show. In her speech, she asked people in authority to make it illegal to provide harmful content on social networks. The fourth season, I Am Helen, carries on a similar theme of a real-life issue seen through the eyes of an individual experiencing that issue. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostWhen Coughlan was first introduced to the I Am Series, she felt it was "truly surreal" being a part of the series and being able to follow in the footsteps of all the previous women who have worked with Savage. Coughlan stated that all of the filming was "equal parts deeply terrifying and deeply liberating." As for Savage’s involvement in the creative process, he is writing, directing and producing. I Am Helen has two episodes, each being sixty minutes in length.Why this role matters for Nicola Coughlan and what to expect from I Am Helen?Nicola Coughlan has been building toward something like this for a while. Her role in Bridgerton season 3 was a big moment for her when she became the show's lead love interest and the season became one of the most-watched ones on Netflix in its year. But Bridgerton is a very specific kind of show, all period costumes and romantic tension, and I Am Helen is the opposite of that. It is grounded, modern, and deals with something genuinely uncomfortable. The fact that Coughlan developed the story herself alongside Savage means she has real ownership over what it says and how it says it.The show also sits in a particularly pointed place in a broader conversation. Channel 4 executives have publicly pushed back on what they see as Netflix coming in and taking British talent that Channel 4 helped develop, they called Netflix "TV tourists" at last year's Edinburgh TV Festival, referencing the success of Adolescence, which was made with Peaky Blinders star Stephen Graham and writer Jack Thorne, both of whom had long histories with Channel 4. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostI Am Helen feels very much like Channel 4, making the case for why it still matters and still knows how to do something that nobody else is doing quite the same way.