Thunderbolts* star Florence Pugh has revealed she won’t be taking on roles like horror hit Midsommar again, saying that while she is proud of the film she felt like she “abused” herself in the process.
During a discussion on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, Pugh recalled the experience of making the 2019 horror story, about a young woman named Dani (Pugh) who visits a remote island festival that takes a dark and twisted turn. The film, directed by Ari Aster, was promoted by a poster that featured Pugh’s character crying and bloodied.
“There have been some roles where I’ve given too much and I’ve been broken for a long while afterwards,” Pugh confessed on the podcast. “Like when I did Midsommar, I definitely felt like I abused myself in the places that I got myself to go.”
She continued saying it was part of acting process, explaining “The nature of figuring these things out is you need to go, ‘Alright, well, I can’t do that again because that was too much’. I look at that performance and I’m really proud of what I did, and I’m proud of what came out of me. I don’t regret it. But, yeah, there’s definitely things that you have to respect about yourself.”
Florence Pugh (CREDIT: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
Despite the distress of the role, the actor praised Aster for trying to keep spirits up during a difficult shoot. “Once you laugh at one thing, he will try and make you laugh at all the other things. He’ll keep going and everybody will be crying in fits of laughter.”
Pugh is currently enjoying success in different genres, having released award-winning biopic Oppenheimer, sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two, and marital drama We Live In Time in the last eighteen months. She spoke to NME recently alongside We Live In Time co-star Andrew Garfield about making the film, including shaving her head on camera.
Later this year, she will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Yelena Belova in the superhero team-up Thunderbolts*, released May 2. Pugh reprises her role from the 2021 film Black Widow, and Disney+ show Hawkeye.
Despite her prolific output, the star spoke about her experiences in Hollywood, saying she believes she is “too gobby” to be there and that she refuses to fit stereotypes set for women in the industry.
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