Nicola Coughlan is sharing a rare memory from her relationship with Jake Dunn, revealing that what began as a visit while she was working in Malta turned into a much longer stay.
The 39-year-old actress recalled the trip while promoting The Magic Faraway Tree, explaining in a new E! News interview that Dunn was able to join her while she filmed part of the fantasy movie on location.
“He came for a visit and then stayed,” Coughlan said. Dunn was on a break from filming at the time and eventually told her, “I think I’m gonna stay.”
Coughlan and Dunn have generally kept details of their relationship private. Looking back at the Malta period, however, she had no hesitation describing it warmly: “It’s a very happy memory, that time. It was lovely.”
Jake Dunn Came to Visit Nicola Coughlan
Coughlan said Dunn ended up staying with her throughout the Malta portion of filming. “He actually was in Malta the whole time I was filming, so I can’t complain,” she told E! News.
Dunn’s visit happened to coincide with a break in his own filming schedule, giving him the flexibility to remain longer than originally planned. “He came for a visit and then stayed,” Coughlan recalled. “He was on a break from filming at that time. He’s like, ‘I think I’m gonna stay.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, stay!’”
Coughlan recalled that costars Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy also had loved ones around during the shoot, while children, spouses and friends became part of the atmosphere surrounding the production. “There was lots of little kids there, husbands, wives, friends,” she said.
As PEOPLE reported, Coughlan described that combination of work and loved ones as an unusually happy period. “It’s a very happy memory, that time,” she said. “It was lovely.”
Coughlan Has Been Deliberate About Keeping Their Relationship Private
Coughlan and Dunn were first romantically linked after being seen together at London’s All Points East festival in August 2024. They were subsequently photographed together on other outings, but neither immediately turned the relationship into a public talking point.
Coughlan made things more explicit in February 2025 when she wished Dunn a happy birthday on Instagram, sharing a photograph of him with the simple message, “Happy Birthday ♥️.” Two months later, on April 24, they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the BAFTA Television and Television Craft Awards nominees party in London.
Even after becoming more public, Coughlan has spoken candidly about how uncomfortable it can be when ordinary private moments are photographed without her consent. In a December 2025 interview with The Guardian, she recalled seeing paparazzi photographs from an early outing with Dunn after what had simply been an evening at a pub followed by a walk. “The violation is immense,” she said.
Coughlan explained that the attention later became more intense, with people photographing the couple during everyday activities and posting their whereabouts online. She said the scrutiny caused significant anxiety and reinforced her desire to protect parts of her private life.
They Rely on FaceTime When Work Keeps Them Apart
Coughlan has nevertheless offered occasional details about the relationship on her own terms. In March, she discussed how she and Dunn handle the stretches when their acting schedules place them in different locations. “We try our best,” she said. “I send him annoying videos all the time and then, you know, a lot of FaceTime, but he’s super busy.”
Part of what Coughlan said she appreciated about Dunn was precisely that he had his own professional life rather than expecting either person’s schedule to revolve around the other. “Before we were together, I just thought he was a really talented actor,” she said. “But I love when people have their own stuff going on.”
Dunn, 26, trained at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has appeared in projects including Disney+’s Renegade Nell, William Tell and What It Feels Like for a Girl.
Coughlan has also joked about a difference that has little to do with their 13-year age gap. Dunn is apparently the one who prefers an early night. She recalled him favoring a 10 p.m. bedtime while she would rather stay awake until 2 a.m.
Malta Already Held a Special Place in Coughlan’s Story
Long before Bridgerton or Derry Girls, she spent a year studying in Malta when she was 19 and was still deciding whether attempting an acting career was realistic.
Coughlan told TIME that she had been sitting in a garden café in Malta reading a book about Monty Python when she made the decision to become an actor. Years later, she returned to Malta to film The Magic Faraway Tree alongside Michael Palin, one of the members of Monty Python.
There was another coincidence waiting for her when she arrived. Coughlan said her hotel was directly across the street from the location where the café had once stood.
The production itself was partly filmed on soundstages in England and partly on location in Malta. Some of the Malta sequences involved the fantastical Land of Spells, with night shoots reportedly continuing until the early morning hours.
‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ Puts Coughlan in a Very Different World
Coughlan plays Silky, a woodland fairy, in The Magic Faraway Tree, director Ben Gregor’s adaptation of Enid Blyton’s children’s books. The fantasy adventure stars Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy as Tim and Polly, parents who relocate with their three children to the countryside.
The children discover an enormous magical tree whose residents include Silky, Moonface, Dame Washalot and Saucepan Man. At the top of the tree are a series of fantastical worlds that continually change, pulling the family into adventures that eventually force them to reconnect with one another.
The ensemble also includes Nonso Anozie, Jessica Gunning, Jennifer Saunders, Rebecca Ferguson, Michael Palin, Simon Russell Beale and Lenny Henry.
The film has already been released in the U.K., where it opened in March. It arrives in U.S. theaters on Aug. 21, with the Associated Press noting that its story places particular emphasis on imagination, nature, community and a family reconnecting away from the distractions of modern life.