LONDON: Irish actress Nicola Coughlan has revealed that she was told her Palestinian advocacy could harm her career.

The “Bridgerton” and “Derry Girls” star told Teen Vogue she had been warned by people in Hollywood not to be openly supportive of Palestinian rights, but has continued to campaign for a ceasefire in Gaza and still publicly wears an Artists4Ceasefire pin.

“You do get told, ‘you won’t get work, you won’t do this,’ but I also think, deep down, if you know that you’re coming from a place of ‘I don’t want any innocent people to suffer,’ then I’m not worried about people’s reactions,” she said.

“My family lived in Jerusalem back in the late ‘70s, early ’80s, before I was born, so I heard first hand stories about them living there.”

She said her father, who served in the Irish military, went to a “lot of war-torn regions after the conflict and try and help rebuild,” and this had left a profound impression on her.

“I’m so lucky I’ve gotten to this point in my career, and I’m privileged as a white woman, first off.

“Then the fact that I get to do the job I love and travel the world and meet amazing people, I feel a moral responsibility to give back.”

She has made a point of continuing to campaign and raise money around the issue, adding: “To me, it always becomes about supporting all innocent people, which sounds oversimplified, but I think you’ve got to look at situations and just think, ‘Are we supporting innocent people no matter where they’re from, who they are?’ That’s my drive.”

Coughlan said social media plays a role in driving advocacy but it requires nuance. “More of us should be trying to understand how upsetting and traumatising this is for Jewish people, and how horrific it is that all these innocent people in Palestine are being murdered,” she added.

A number of Hollywood figures have faced repercussions for their open support of the Palestinians or criticism of Israel.

Mexican actress Melissa Barrera was fired from the latest “Scream” film over social media posts in support of Palestine, while director Jonathan Glazer caused controversy for using his acceptance speech at the Oscars for his film “The Zone of Interest” to criticize the Gaza war.

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia-based film “Hajjan,” directed by Egyptian filmmaker Abu Bakr Shawky, is nominated for six categories at the eighth Critics Awards for Arab Films.

The movie is competing in the best feature film, best screenplay, best actor, best music, best cinematography and best editing categories. 

“Hajjan” tells the story of Matar, a boy who embarks on a journey across the desert with his camel, Hofira.

The movie is a co-production between the Kingdom’s King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy’s Film Clinic. 

The movie, which is written by Omar Shama from Egypt and the Kingdom’s Mufarrij Almajfel, stars Saudi actors Abdulmohsen Al-Nemer, Ibrahim Al-Hsawi, among others. 

The awards ceremony, scheduled for May 18 on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, is organized by the Arab Cinema Center in Cairo and assessed by a panel of 209 critics representing 72 countries. 

Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s inaugural feature film, “Goodbye Julia,” and Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated documentary, “Four Daughters,” scored nominations in seven categories. 

Jordanian filmmaker Amjad Al-Rasheed’s “Inshallah A Boy” and Palestinian-British director Farah Nabulsi’s “The Teacher” have six nominations.