Florence Pugh was a critically acclaimed independent movie actress before achieving her international breakthrough. Pugh debuted in 2014 with the British drama The Falling, where she appeared alongside Maisie Williams. The Marvel actress was praised for her performance as a wicked woman in Lady Macbeth, who is trapped in a loveless marriage and unleashes her darker side.
Early on in her career, Pugh was asked to change her body for a TV show that ultimately didn’t work out. This prompted her not to pursue Hollywood until she was clear on her direction. The Wonder actress got her first international role in Fighting with My Family where she played the English professional wrestler Saraya Bevis aka Paige.
Florence Pugh Reveals People Were Not Happy About Her Success
Following the critical success of Fighting with My Family, Florence Pugh also starred in two lead roles in 2019. The Outlaw King actress played the traumatized Dani Ardor in Ari Aster’s folk horror film Midsommar. Later that year, she was cast as one of the leading ladies in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa M Alcott’s Little Women. The Marcella actress received an Oscar nomination for her role in the latter.
As the 27-year-old actress transitioned into mainstream Hollywood with her portrayal of Yelena Belova in MCU’s Black Widow, she believed that her journey to success might have rubbed some people the wrong way. In an interview with Time, she shared:
“So many people in the indie film world were really pissed off at me. They were like, ‘Great, now she’s gone forever. And I’m like, no, I’m working as hard as I used to work. I’ve always done back-to-back movies. It’s just people are watching them now. You just have to be a bit more organised with your schedule.”
Pugh also went deep about her movie roles in the same interview. The Hawkeye actress revealed that she infused each character she played with an element of confrontation and survival, even if the script doesn’t require her to do so. She also added that she refrained from judging her characters and only tried to study their motivations.
Florence Pugh Will Keep Pursuing Indie Movies
Florence Pugh is becoming busy in Hollywood with some big projects to her name and others still on the horizon. Even with her busy schedule, she managed to star alongside Morgan Freeman in the 2023 independent drama A Good Person. The film, directed by Zach Braff of Scrubs fame, received mixed reviews from critics.
In the meantime, mainstream projects keep flowing the actress’s way. The Don’t Worry Darling actress got a major Hollywood project with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer where she played Jean Tatlock, the romantic interest of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Notably, she also acted in the first s*x scene in a Nolan film. Of working with Pugh, Nolan said:
“I felt this [Florence Pugh] is somebody who could bring Jean Tatlock to life and have the audience understand the significance of this figure in Oppenheimer’s life, and she was just fantastic to work with.”
Her upcoming big projects include Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two and Marvel’s Thunderbolts. Florence Pugh was featured in Time magazine’s 100 Next list, a testament to the rising star she is. Pugh hopes to thrive in a diverse range of films, from indie projects to blockbuster productions.
Source: Time
