Florence Pugh: From The Falling To Dune Part 2
A few years ago, it seemed likely that Florence Pugh was set to be the next big thing in the entertainment industry. The Oxford-born actress, like many burgeoning stars, got her start in independent movies before her mainstream breakthrough came with Oscar-nominated films and A24 instant classics. As the 2020s rolled around, Pugh quickly transitioned from an up-and-comer to a full-fledged movie star, with high-profile appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and blockbusters like "Oppenheimer" and "Dune: Part Two."
However, it hasn't been the easiest road for Pugh career-wise. Along the way to becoming one of the hottest young stars of her generation, she's put herself through the wringer to create the memorable performances that have etched her into film history. Whether it's on-set turmoil between stars and directors or unwavering devotion to her roles, Pugh's short movie career thus far has proven difficult to maintain.
Join us on our stroll down memory lane as we examine the films and projects that have turned Florence Pugh into the A-list celebrity she is today, and hear from the actress herself on how each of these milestones helped shape her approach to acting, whether it's a low-budget drama flick or a major studio's tentpole franchise.
The Falling was a rewarding film debut for Pugh
It didn't take long for Florence Pugh's dreams of becoming an actress to materialize on-screen. While she was still in school at age 17, Pugh was cast in Carol Morley's drama film "The Falling," starring opposite Maisie Williams as classmates at an all-girls school. She impressed Morley at the audition, with the director telling The Independent, "All the casting people were really quiet and I just said, 'Do you not think she's amazing?' And they all went, 'We've got goosebumps; that was like a young Kate Winslet walking into the room.'"
For Pugh, the experience of doing the film was just as goosebumps-inducing. She found it strange to be thrust onto a film set at such a young age, despite her enthusiasm for the project and the character. She also had to adjust to the difficulty of acting on screen versus her experience thus far in theater, which required her to endure long hours and repetitive acting.
Pugh's work didn't go unnoticed for her film debut, as "The Falling" was generally well-received by critics. Early reviews from the film's premiere at the London Film Festival singled out Pugh as a promising young star, but it took her next film to really start turning heads in the industry.
In Lady Macbeth, Pugh embraced being the anti-hero
Florence Pugh took her first step to becoming a leading lady in 2016 with the period piece "Lady Macbeth." Based on an 1865 novella (not the Shakespeare play, as you might expect) "Lady Macbeth" centers on a young woman named Katherine, played by Pugh, who suffers in a loveless marriage with an older man. While the film itself was acclaimed by critics, it was Pugh's central performance in the film that drew audiences in, with The Guardian calling her "lethally charismatic" in their five-star review.
With "Lady Macbeth" being Pugh's second-ever film, she was quite intimidated by Katherine when she read the script, describing to NPR how the character's decision-making kept surprising her. "When I read Katherine, I didn't want her to be a villain ... and so I approached that by simply making her very simple, very human, quite literally just being as instinctive as she is." For her performance, Pugh won best actress at the 2017 British Independent Film Awards.
2016 also saw Pugh expand her acting into television with a three-episode arc in the series "Marcella." Though her resume continued to grow, "Lady Macbeth" was only the first of her many future critically acclaimed roles, as she began landing parts in even bigger projects.
Pugh rewrote history in Outlaw King
2018 was an eventful year for Florence Pugh, with projects including "King Lear" with Anthony Hopkins, the Liam Neeson thriller "The Commuter," and the horror film "Malevolent." Pugh's most notable role from this year was in Netflix's "Outlaw King," which starred Chris Pine as the Scottish king Robert the Bruce. Pugh memorably played Elizabeth de Burgh, Robert's wife and queen consort, who is historically enigmatic, leaving a lot of room for Pugh to turn her into a powerful character.
In an interview with W Magazine, Pugh explained that Elizabeth "has been written down as an add-on in history," but when she began researching the character for "Outlaw King," she found much more to the woman than history would lead you to believe. Even director David Mackenzie and Pine had nothing but glowing things to say about Pugh and how she brought authenticity to the role of Elizabeth, especially in her scenes opposite Pine's Robert.
However, the experience wasn't exactly what Pugh had hoped for. Given they were shooting on the cusp of the #MeToo movement, Pugh couldn't help but feel isolated by the film's predominately male cast and crew, telling The Guardian, "It was an amazing moment because, while the industry was kicking off, it was like, 'OK, yeah, here is an example where there aren't that many women in this film and that is sad. But I get to be here, representing this woman whose storyline has been stripped from her.'"
Fighting with My Family proved that Pugh can have fun
Florence Pugh was quick to eschew assumptions that she would only act in dramatic period pieces. She made three significant appearances in 2019, the first of which was Stephen Merchant's comedy film "Fighting with My Family" about the life and career of WWE wrestler Paige, whom Pugh plays in the film. Portraying a professional wrestler in a big studio comedy was a huge switch-up for Pugh, though she thankfully found a mentor in one of her A-list co-stars.
That mentor was none other than Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who appears in the film as himself. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Pugh praised Johnson for being instrumental in guiding her through this unfamiliar territory, saying, "I take my hat off to him for trusting me as a non-wrestler entering this wrestling world, and I also thank him hugely for being patient and completely helping me along the way."
As one of her more critically acclaimed performances, "Fighting with My Family" was a huge step in the process of turning Pugh from an up-and-comer to a highly in-demand actress in Hollywood. IndieWire went as far as to say that the film is "enlivened by Pugh's full-throttle performance and a genuine care for all of its motley players" — but despite how much fun Pugh had on set, her next big project would be difficult to overcome.
The production of Midsommar was unforgiving toward Pugh
Florence Pugh's second film of 2019 was Ari Aster's "Midsommar," a psychological horror film set in the colorful bliss of Sweden. Pugh plays Dani, an American woman reeling from the sudden and horrific death of her family. She accompanies her distant boyfriend on a trip to a Swedish commune, where she and her fellow travelers become disturbingly entangled in the cultish practices commemorating the midsummer festival. For those who have seen the movie, it is not an easy watch.
Pugh definitely felt that distress while on set, as she described in an interview with Variety. To get to the places she needed to be to portray Dani, Pugh claims, "I would put myself in really s***ty situations that maybe other actors don't need to do but I would just be imagining the worst things ... I think by the end I probably, most definitely abused my own self in order to get that performance." However, she was insistent that all of this was her own process, and not the fault of Aster, who she remarked was kind and warm towards her.
If Pugh's film work before this had turned some heads, "Midsommar" was the one that made everyone start paying attention. A review for Vulture described Pugh, saying, "Her face is so wide and open that she seems to have nowhere to hide her emotions. Everything about her is insistent."
Little Women led to Pugh's first Oscar nomination
Florence Pugh's final film of 2019 was perhaps her most rewarding, to say the least. In line with many young actresses who came before her, Pugh got the opportunity to play the polarizing Amy March in Greta Gerwig's "Little Women." As far as period pieces go, Amy is both a refreshing role to play as the bratty younger sister to Saoirse Ronan's Jo, as well as a difficult one to embody considering the changes the character undergoes as she matures. Thankfully, Gerwig couldn't have had a better actor in Amy's shoes to portray this unique version of the character.
Gerwig said as much in a New York Times profile of Pugh, commenting on her choice of the actress to play an intellectually equivalent Amy to Ronan's Jo, "She has movie star written all over her, but she's also a character actor, which is the best kind of movie star." Such movie star glamour is especially on display in one scene, where Pugh's Amy explains to Timothee Chalamet's Laurie how marriage is an economic proposition for women of their time.
As The Atlantic wrote of the film, "Pugh is the standout, turning Amy — long the novel's problem character, given to stoking spiteful sibling rivalries — into a heroine as rich and compelling as Jo." For carefully balancing Amy's feral childhood and stoic adulthood, Pugh was nominated for best supporting actress at the 2020 Academy Awards — the actress's first Oscar nomination, but hopefully not her last.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe offered Pugh freedom
Being Hollywood's next big thing should usually result in a victory lap — unless the timing takes place right before a worldwide pandemic shuts down the entertainment industry and indefinitely delays your next projects. Florence Pugh stayed in touch with fans throughout quarantine by posting cooking videos on her Instagram page, which went viral due to her aforementioned lethal charisma.
This all helped Pugh bide her time until her next film hit theaters in 2021, featuring a key role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with "Black Widow." In the prequel film centered on Scarlett Johansson's iconic Natasha Romanoff, Pugh joined the superhero world as Yelena Belova, Natasha's long-lost adopted sister, who works as a mind-controlled assassin for a Russian general. She is later set free by Natasha and subsequently reunited with their family of spies, including their mother, played by Rachel Weisz, and father, played by David Harbour.
Pugh's performance as Yelena was well-loved by fans and critics, and she has since reprised the role in the 2021 Disney+ series "Hawkeye." Pugh is also set to play Yelena again in the upcoming team-up film "Thunderbolts," but while many cite the MCU as proof that the entertainment industry has become more confined, Pugh had the opposite experience, saying in "Hawkeye: The Official Collector's Special" that she "was really awarded the space and the opportunity and the freedom to create a new character, and that was totally down to director Cate Shortland," (via The Direct).
Don't Worry Darling threw Pugh into the crossfire of celebrity gossip
Unfortunately, what goes up must come down, and that's true even for stars as talented as Florence Pugh. In 2022, she starred in the thriller "Don't Worry Darling" directed by Olivia Wilde, her follow-up to her cult classic "Booksmart" from 2019. Pugh plays Alice, an average American housewife who uncovers hidden secrets surrounding her idyllic life, and what it reveals about her seemingly perfect husband Jack, played by Harry Styles.
However, the film's production seemingly hid its own ugly secrets, according to rumors and speculation. It was alleged by Vulture before the film's release that tensions brewed between Pugh and Wilde on-set, though this was denied by crew members and those involved. Bad press also followed Wilde regarding the departure of Shia LaBeouf, who was originally set to play Jack, before Pugh's discomfort with him reportedly led to his firing.
As a result, Pugh largely abandoned promotional duties for the film, aside from an appearance at the Venice Film Festival to support the movie, which may have been her taking the high road. Little is known about the actual details of all the on-set disputes, but much like her character Alice in the movie, Pugh was probably happy to get out of there and move on with her life.
Pugh returned to her comfort zone in A Good Person
It was obvious that after a few years, Florence Pugh needed a film production that was a little lower-key. The opportunity came in 2023, when Pugh's then-boyfriend Zach Braff cast her in "A Good Person," which he also wrote with her in mind. The result was a character tailor-made for Pugh, who later told W Magazine, "I think because [Zach] knew me so well, and knows that I am really keen on great dialogue and love getting involved with that kind of stuff, he wanted to make sure that the final product that he gave me was perfect."
In "A Good Person," Pugh plays Allison, an aspiring musician whose life is derailed after a car accident kills her future in-laws. As she recovers from PTSD and a drug addiction, she strikes up an unlikely friendship with her ex-fiancé's father. Like her journey learning about WWE for "Fighting with My Family," "A Good Person" was also an opportunity for Pugh to learn about addiction and the process of recovery to accurately portray this character.
As a review from Variety put it, "Ally's life has become a limbo, and Pugh nails the considerable acting feat of getting us to connect to that." It might not be the biggest budget or flashiest action flick Pugh has worked on, but "A Good Person" serves as a strong reminder of why audiences fell in love with her in the first place.
She might have a future in voice acting
While Florence Pugh has become one of the most recognizable young stars of the 2020s, she's also shown promise in another area: voice acting. In 2022, Pugh voiced Goldilocks in Dreamworks' "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," an experience she was eager to rave about. On her Instagram, Pugh promoted the film's trailer with a nostalgic message of what the "Shrek" franchise has meant to her, saying, "I remember enjoying these movies so much as a kid, I still sometimes put them on on a rainy Sunday ... Recording this fantastic script with beautiful creative people has been an actual dream come true."
It wasn't long before Pugh flexed her voice acting skills again, this time in a film with a little more pedigree. She joined the English voice cast for Hayao Miyazaki's 2023 film "The Boy and the Heron," in the role of Kiriko. The film's English cast also includes Robert Pattinson (in his first voice-acting role), Karen Fukuhara, and Willem Dafoe, all of whom are doing incredible work with only their voices.
Pugh is no different, considering that she plays Kiriko as both a young woman and an old lady. As GKIDS' director of acquisitions and development Rodney Uhler described, the "sacred" role of Kiriko "[is] both an emotional heartbeat and a comedic highlight, and Florence spoke so authentically to both of those aspects," (via IndieWire). Hopefully, Pugh doesn't shy away from voice acting in the future.
There are no small parts in Oppenheimer, especially for Pugh
Also in 2023, Florence Pugh starred in arguably the biggest movie of the year, Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer." In a film littered with A-list stars in roles both major and minor, Pugh has a small but integral role as Jean Tatlock, Oppenheimer's former girlfriend, whose mysterious suicide haunts him during the development of the atom bomb at Los Alamos, and during his loss of security clearance after World War II.
Though her screen time is very limited, Pugh was eager to join a Nolan film, telling MTV UK, "Chris really, really wanted me to know that it wasn't a very big role, and he understands if I don't want to come near it. And I was like, 'Doesn't matter. Even if I'm a coffee maker at a café in the back of the room, let's do it.'" Being in the film was certainly worth the awkwardness of having to perform nude, which included a poorly-timed camera malfunction during one of her intimate scenes with Cillian Murphy.
Still, working for Christopher Nolan is nothing but a learning experience, Pugh found. In an interview with BBC Radio One, Pugh described a Nolan set as like no other she's worked on, where "Everybody has so much pride in their own work ... everybody is constantly trying to be better the next day." Perhaps the next phase of Pugh's career will see her continuing to work with auteur directors.
Dune: Part Two may be the start of Pugh's next adventure
Small roles in giant blockbuster movies seem to be a new trend for Florence Pugh, as she also joined the cast of Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Two," which was released in March 2024. Pugh plays the role of Princess Irulan, the daughter of the nefarious Emperor (Christopher Walken). Compared to the strengths she's displayed in previous roles, Irulan was quite a departure for Pugh, despite having limited screen time.
As the actress told SFX Magazine, "I think she's probably one of the quietest characters I've ever played. She is someone that is constantly listening, and always learning," though also expressed excitement at the opportunity to continue playing the character in future installments of Villeneuve's film franchise (via GamesRadar). Given the importance of Princess Irulan in future "Dune" novels, particularly the sequel "Dune Messiah," Pugh may have just found her next major film franchise in which to steal the show.