Florence Pugh loves to cry. Or at least, she likes to pick roles that make her shed tears.
Renowned for portraying powerful roles and playing bizarre characters, Pugh has received critical acclamation for a number of her works. The 27-year-old English actress has also been nominated for accolades like Oscars and BAFTAs, thanks to her remarkable talent on screen.
However, while she has stepped into an array of different roles and earned recognition for her versatility, Pugh isn’t the biggest fan of working in films that don’t challenge her. Or, for that matter, make her ugly cry.
What Florence Pugh’s Ideal Role In A Film Looks Like
Talking about her upcoming film titled A Good Place at the movie’s premiere, Florence Pugh opened up about why she only chose “very intense roles” as she explained how important said roles were to her. For her, the best roles are those which bring out the ugly yet realistic side of life and the people around us instead of characters that border around fantasy and romance.
“It’s no secret that I only pick very intense roles. This isn’t the first time I’ve been reduced to tears pretty much every single scene that I’ve been in. I like finding the ugliness in humans. I love being raw. I love being given a script where it challenges myself and I have never picked a role unless I’ve been scared of it. And this is someone that knew me, knew my potential, and wanted to work with me. I think it would have been strange if he wrote a Nancy Meyers thing for me to be like, ‘So… you’re not going to cry in this movie.’ I’d be like, ‘Oh God!’”
Films that draw Pugh’s raw passion out whilst simultaneously captivating the audience with their intriguingly sinister energy happen to be the actress’ strengths. The famous horror/thriller Midsommar, Sebastián Lelio’s psychological drama titled The Wonder, or 2022’s twisted mystery Don’t Worry Darling, all stand as a testament to Pugh’s true potential and dedication when it comes to her playing “intense roles.”
Florence Pugh on Her Role In Zach Braff’s A Good Place
The Oppenheimer actress collaborated with her ex-partner Zach Braff on A Good Place, a movie that she not only stars in but has also executive produced alongside Braff. In the film, Pugh plays the role of Allison, a recovering opioid addict in the pits of grief after she suffers from a tragic car accident. The more interesting part, however, is that Braff created Allison’s character with some of Pugh’s own characteristic traits in mind.
“He knows how I talk, he knows how I take the p*ss out of people and I think he just put that in his script and I was allowed to come and fill in where it was needed,” The Falling actress had remarked on the film’s premiere. “But reading something that is dedicated for you written by someone who knows you so well is a wonderful gift.”
Upon being asked how she felt about someone this close to her dedicating such a damaged and dejected character to her, the Malevolent star claimed that it wasn’t something that bothered her. “I wouldn’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. I think if anything, it means that he could believe that I could do it,” she responded.
For someone who loves to take up dark and intense roles so much, Pugh certainly is a serious optimist.
A Good Person is set to hit theatres on March 24, 2023.
Source: Variety
