- Florence Pugh says executives tried to change her image early in her career.
- The star was told to lose weight and change her “look”.
- Pugh initially thought she had made a mistake joining the film industry.
‘Don’t Worry Darling’ star Florence Pugh has quickly become one of the most popular stars on the planet thanks to her roles in movies like “Outlaw King”, “Midsommar”, “Little Women” and “Black Widow”. But her career started in 2014 when she starred in ‘The Falling’ opposite Alumnus of “Game of Thrones”, Maisie Williams.
But after Pugh landed her first starring role, executives told her she needed to lose weight and change her image if she wanted to succeed. The actor spoke to The telegraph when she recalled her early experiences in the industry.
The British star explained that when she was 19, she traveled to the United States to audition for new TV shows and was cast in the failed pilot, ‘Studio City’, as a musician budding. But executives working on the show wanted her to change her look as part of her job.
Pugh said: “All the things they were trying to change about me – whether it was my weight, my appearance, the shape of my face, the shape of my eyebrows – it was so not what I wanted to do, or industry I wanted to work in.”
The actress felt like she knew what to expect after starring in ‘The Falling,’ but the contrast was shocking to her.
Pugh went on to say, “I thought the film industry would be like [my experience of making] “The Falling,” but actually that was what the pinnacle of the game was like, and I felt I made a huge mistake.”
The show never got past the pilot stage and Pugh returned to the UK, where she landed the lead role in William Oldroyd’s ‘Lady Macbeth’, which rekindled the actor’s love of film.
She added: “It made me fall in love with cinema all over again – the kind of cinema that was a space where you could have opinions and noise, and I stuck with that.”
Pugh’s career has blossomed since then, most recently starring in Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling” alongside Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan and Nick Kroll. Rumors swirled that Pugh had a falling out with Wilde over the film due to the director’s relationship with Styles, who would have resulted in a howling match.
The star will next be seen in Netflix’s period drama, “The Wonder,” as well as Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” and “Dune: Part Two” in 2023.
