One of the most talented actresses of our generation, Florence Pugh has garnered nothing but critical acclaim over the years with each performance she has delivered. From the sets of Ari Aster’s Midsommar to MCU’s Black Widow, never has the British actress been lacking where it counts – her incredibly powerful emotional range. And perhaps this trait might have also been the reason behind one of Pugh’s most draining, nerve-racking, and self-destructive roles to date.
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Florence Pugh Opens Up About Her Midsommar Role
In 2019, 23-year-old Florence Pugh stunned the acting community and the audience with her performance in the indie folk horror film, Midsommar. Directed by Ari Aster, the movie stands as an exemplary replica and physical representation of the extent of psychological trauma that is perpetuated through a toxic and mentally abusive relationship. As Pugh’s character has a breakdown while visiting Sweden with her character’s troubling partner, the echoes of the soul-rendering cries are powerful enough to carve a hollow in even the most emotionally detached people.
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Speaking of her experience filming Midsommar, Pugh claimed in a recent Off Menu podcast interview:
“I’d never played someone that was in that much pain before […] I was putting things in my head that were getting worse and more bleak. I think by the end I probably, most definitely abused my own self in order to get that performance.”
However, the actress also went on to clarify that none of it was the director’s fault who went out of his way to make his cast and crew comfortable on set. Florence Pugh ended up describing him as “a stand-up comedian at heart.”
Florence Pugh Overcomes Guilt While Filming Little Women
After the horrifying lived experience, when Florence Pugh finally moved on from the set to begin filming Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, the shift in the atmosphere was too stark to absorb at first. That change in scenery ended up making the actress feel something akin to survivor’s guilt for walking out of the set and onto a new one.
“I remember looking [out the plane] and feeling immense guilt because I felt like I’d left [Dani] in that field in that [emotional] state. It’s so weird. I’ve never had that before…Obviously, that’s probably a psychological thing where I felt immense guilt of what I’d put myself through but I definitely felt like I’d left her there in that field to be abused…almost like I’d created this person and then I just left her there to go and do another movie.”
The experience, although earning her elite status among the netizens and Hollywood’s directors for her dedication to the art, has left the actress racked. And considering how she describes surviving the filming of Midsommar, it doesn’t seem as though Florence Pugh would be taking up something quite so serious anytime soon.
Midsommar is available for streaming on Paramount Plus, Apple TV, and Prime Video.
Source: Off Menu
