The Untold Truth Of Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh completely dominated 2019, garnering praise and critical acclaim for her roles in the hit films Fighting with My Family, Midsommar, and Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women. And, considering the actress was nominated in 2020 for her first-ever Academy Award, it's safe to say Pugh's name is one you'll be hearing for years to come. 

However, despite her breakout year, Pugh has managed to somehow fly beneath the radar of some moviegoers. But, according to the actress, she doesn't mind not yet being a household name — or face. "I've had conversations about films with people who had no idea that I was in them," Pugh told The New York Times. She continued, saying, "I love that. To me, that's acting. It's like, 'Okay. It worked.'"

Considering Pugh stars alongside Scarlett Johansson in the 2020 Marvel superhero flick Black Widow, she likely won't be able to go unrecognized for much longer. Here's a look at the untold truth of Florence Pugh, one of Hollywood's newest and brightest stars. 

Many of us non-famous folk have been conditioned to believe our favorite celebrities spend any downtime they may have in their lavish, luxurious homes. However, that's not exactly the case for Florence Pugh.

An interview Pugh gave to The Guardian, which was published in October 2018, provided a behind-the-scenes look at the actress' busy schedule. At the time of the interview, Pugh was in Budapest filming the horror flick Midsommar, which came a year after she filmed King Lear. Before Midsommar, Pugh had traveled to Scotland to film the Netflix movie Outlaw King. And, as noted in the interview, Pugh was planning at that time to fly to Boston in just a few months to begin work on Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women. 

With such a jam-packed schedule, how does Pugh ever find the time to relax and unwind at home? Well, according to the actress herself, she doesn't. "I don't have a home," Pugh told The Guardian. She continued, "With the life I've been lucky enough to live in the last two years, I've had to live out of bags."

It's no secret that the media plays a large part in influencing women to look one way or another, often showcasing a very Western standard of beauty with little variation from thin, fair-skinned women with clear skin and perfectly groomed everything. However, while they may look perfect to us, movie stars are not immune from having insecurities about their appearance. As Florence Pugh revealed in an interview with The Guardian, watching early footage of her films can often be hard. "It's so difficult to not look at your flaws," Pugh admitted. 

That said, Pugh revealed that watching the early footage for Outlaw King was a different experience, as the film's gritty content meant no one was expected to look their best. "I was over the moon to be watching something where not one person was movie-ready," Pugh told The Guardian. Calling cinema "a massive part of the problem of why we look at ourselves in the way that we do," she continued, "You never see a normal spot, a bag under the eye or an unplucked eyebrow, because that's not how Hollywood works."

Midsommar, the 2019 horror film about a Swedish cult's creepy, midsummer festival, is largely considered to be the film that placed Florence Pugh front and center as one of Hollywood's most in-demand actresses. Much of this can be attributed to Pugh's gut-wrenchingly emotional performance as Dani, a college student left grief-stricken and traumatized when her troubled sister takes the lives of their parents and herself while Dani is away at school. 

"I was scared, because I'd never come close to any sort of grief like that in my entire life," Pugh told Deadline. Revealing the disturbing visualization technique she used to get herself in Dani's headspace, she continued, "I imagined every single member of my family in a coffin, which got all the noises that you see in the film out of me." 

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Pugh called the visualization process for Midsommar, the scariest movie of 2019, "exhausting," but admitted it did the trick. "That seemed to get me pretty distraught pretty quickly," Pugh told the publication. She continued, "I don't know what that's done to my mental health."

While her career is still young, Florence Pugh has already showcased her impressive range. The actress played the lead role in drama Lady Macbeth, portrayed real-life pro wrestler Saraya-Jade Bevis (known professionally as Paige) in the 2019 flick Fighting with My Family, and breathed new life into one of literature's most well-known characters with her portrayal of Amy March in Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women. And, in March 2019, it was announced that Pugh would be flexing her action muscles as Yelena Belova in the much-anticipated superhero movie Black Widow (via Variety).

Speaking with Vanity Fair in June 2019, Pugh expressed her excitement about the Scarlett Johansson-led Marvel flick, saying, "Black Widow is so needed. Every one of Black Widow's fans have been so desperate for it." Pugh continued, telling the publication, "It's about women, and it's got an amazing female director, and there's this whole story line that hasn't been done before." 

Added Pugh, "It's very exciting for the Marvel Universe."

Florence Pugh seemingly came out of nowhere in 2019, making a splash in Hollywood with her impressive acting chops and steadily growing body of work. After all, in 2019 alone, Pugh could be seen starring in three critically-acclaimed films — Fighting with My Family, Midsommar, and Little Women. That would be quite an impressive feat for even the most seasoned performer. 

However, just as Rome wasn't built in a day, Pugh's success didn't simply happen overnight. In a 2019 interview with Deadline, Pugh revealed she'd actually filmed Fighting with My Family years before its release, around the same time Lady Macbeth hit theaters. "People are always fascinated about what the big boom was, but in actual fact, I've been busy for the past four years, and they've all just come out," Pugh told Deadline. She continued, "So, it's not necessarily an overnight thing for me. Ever since Lady Macbeth and [Fighting with My] Family, I've been going back-to-back for about four years now."

Fortunately, it seems all of Pugh's hard work has paid off in a major way.

After garnering rave reviews with her performances in Fighting with My Family and Midsommar, Florence Pugh had all eyes on her starring turn as Amy March in Little Women. The film, adapted from the classic Louisa May Alcott novel of the same name, was Greta Gerwig's sophomore solo directorial effort, and starred such major Hollywood players as Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Emma Watson, Meryl Streep, and Laura Dern. However, Pugh's portrayal of Amy — perhaps the most unpopular March sister — added new depth to the character, and many praised her layered, poignant performance of a woman trying to secure success for herself in a male-dominated world.

Pugh started filming Little Women after filming for Midsommar wrapped — and, according to the actress, diving headfirst into the March sisters' world after the grief-heavy Midsommar felt like a breath of fresh air. "Coming off Midsommar, Amy March in Little Women was the best therapy for me," Pugh told Deadline. She continued, saying, "I got to prance around in petticoats, and essentially flirt with Timothée Chalamet every day, and then punch and wrestle with all the sisters. It was great."

Speaking to Beanie Feldstein in a 2019 installment of Variety's series Actors on Actors, Florence Pugh opened up about her experience filming Black Widow. Describing it as a "very, very unique and special experience," Pugh said, "It was special learning from [Scarlett Johansson], and she's been doing this for like 10 years in those films." Pugh continued, gushing, "For this to be her film was special. And I got to be there and see how she does stunts and lives it, and it's so her."

In a December 2019 interview with Deadline, Pugh revealed Fighting with My Family had ignited her love for filming action flicks, and helped prepare her for her role in Black Widow. "I'm not that bad at it," Pugh told the publication. She continued, "I love getting in there, and I hate it when I have to give a job to my stunt double, because that's always the saddest part, when the cooler version of you steps onto set and can do everything, and you're like, 'Oh no!'"

It's difficult to imagine Florence Pugh being told to change anything about herself for a role, especially considering her mega-popularity and ever-growing star power. However, as the actress revealed in a 2018 interview with The Guardian, there was a particular moment at the beginning of her career in which she was pressured to change her appearance in order to fit someone else's vision for how she should look.

Recounting her experience landing a role on Studio City — a TV pilot also starring Heather Graham and Eric McCormack that never made it off the ground — Pugh revealed she was immediately pressured to lose weight. And, while the pilot ultimately flopped, the experience taught Pugh an unfortunate lesson about making a career in Hollywood. "What I've noticed about Hollywood is, if you go out there shouting about who you are, they will love you for it," the actress told The Guardian. She continued, "But if you go out not knowing what it is that you're representing, and you are just a canvas, they will make you into the thing they need you to be."

While we're undoubtedly living in a social media-dominated world, many popular celebrities have chosen to refrain from putting their lives on display via platforms like Instagram and Twitter. Florence Pugh does, however, participate in the social media craze, often uploading photos from her life on her personal Instagram account. However, instead of posting heavily filtered, edited pics, Pugh opts to share the everyday, run-of-the-mill moments from her life. After all, as the actress told IndieWire, she's all-too-aware of the damage perfectly curated Instagram pics can do. 

"[Social media] is the number-one reason as to why so many teenagers are depressed, and I am fully aware of that because, guess what? It makes me depressed," Pugh told IndieWire. She continued, saying, "It's totally okay to post a wonderful picture, because that's also life. But you have to show the spots, and you have to show the quirks, and you have to show your puffy face, because I would feel like a bit of a cheat if I pretended like this was the norm. And it's not."

According to a February 2018 interview with The Times, Florence Pugh said she felt she was "destined" to become an actress, as she was often the loudest, most dramatic one of her parents' four children. However, the theatric young Pugh was eventually diagnosed with tracheomalacia, a condition characterized by a collapsing windpipe and made worse by wet, chilly weather conditions. So, for Pugh's wellbeing, her family moved from the English county of Oxfordshire and settled in Spain, where they stayed for three years. When Pugh was six, her family made the move back to England. 

According to Pugh, her condition is the reason behind her famously deep, raspy voice (via Today). And, as Pugh revealed in a 2020 interview with Vogue, it also left her with what she calls "a very scary cough."

However, while her frequent hospital stays as a child were likely scary for the young Pugh, her tracheomalacia did give her the gift of an incredibly unique, mature singing voice (via Vogue). Before she became a Hollywood "It" girl, she would upload videos of herself singing under the name "Flossie Rose."

Florence Pugh has been surrounded by artists her entire life. As she revealed in a 2018 interview with The Guardian, her mother taught dance, and her three siblings (of which she is the second-youngest) also pursued the dramatic arts. Her brother Toby Sebastian played Trystane Martell on HBO's epic hit series Game of Thrones, and her sister Arabella Gibbins is a stage actor — however, none of her siblings have quite reached the level of success Pugh has. 

According to Pugh, she caught the acting bug at the tender age of six, when she was chosen to play Mary in her school's nativity play. "It was the first time I knew the power of being on stage," Pugh told The Guardian. She continued, saying, "I remember thinking, 'Oh God, they're waiting for me, they're listening to everything I say and I have complete control.'" 

And it appears that intoxicating feeling has never left the actress. Pugh told The Guardian, "I still feel that now. How everyone is hanging on to your every word; how they are going to feel how you want them to feel."

Considering Florence Pugh has showcased her acting chops, impressive range, and ability to fully immerse herself within characters from all walks of life, fans might be surprised to learn the actress has never had any formal training in the dramatic arts. 

As revealed in a January 2020 interview with The Telegraph, Pugh scored her first professional acting gig — a part in the drama flick The Falling — directly after high school. Since then, Pugh has starred amongst Hollywood's best, gracing the big screen with numerous critically acclaimed performances. However, as much as she loves film acting, Pugh revealed in an April 2019 interview with The Last Magazine that she still dreams of taking her talents to the stage — but only after she's completed acting school. 

"I'm aware that theater is a different body and voice and soul," Pugh told the publication. She continued, explaining, "So if I did do [theater], I think it wouldn't be fair to jump into it."

In January 2020, Florence Pugh received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Amy March in Little Women — her first Oscar nomination ever. "It's a lovely feeling to know that not only is my work being liked, but that it's being recognized," Pugh told Entertainment Weekly about the exciting news. 

Pugh's performance as Amy has been applauded by critics, who praised the actress for showcasing a side of the character never before seen — one defined more by her determinedness than by her bratty younger sister reputation. In other words, Pugh's portrayal of Amy has complexity — something the actress told The Telegraph she looks for in the characters she plays. "It doesn't matter if she's kind, or a b***h ... as she's saying something," Pugh told the publication. She continued, "Everyone has their flaws and insecurities. That is what makes people human, and that is what makes people empowered."

Added Pugh, "That's the thing that makes someone go, 'Okay, I can do this now. I can be this, because it's not so alien any more.'"

While the discussion surrounding Florence Pugh usually centers around her impressive career, the Little Women star's love life has become a hot topic of conversation. Particularly, her relationship with her rumored boyfriend, Zach Braff, has been the target of controversy, largely due to the 21-year age gap between the two celebrities. 

In December 2019, Pugh took to Instagram to post a picture of herself in front of Greenblatt's Deli, prompting Braff to comment with a single princess emoji. While his comment may seem innocent enough, some fans of Pugh's took the opportunity to express their disapproval of her relationship with the former Scrubs star (via Elle). "You're 44 years old," one Instagram user commented in reply to Braff. Shortly thereafter, Pugh commented her own response to the user, writing, "And yet he got it."

While her comment was a bit vague, Pugh's response definitely sent a message to fans that she will not entertain any sort of negative comments about Braff's age or about her relationship with him.