When Florence Pugh was accused of selling out: “So many people were pissed off”
With every generation of new actors comes a few faces that stand out from the rest, triumphing in everything they appear in and consistently earning leading roles. Alongside the likes of Timothee Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh has become one of the most acclaimed stars of the late 2010s and 2020s, having starred in various acclaimed projects like Little Women, Midsommar, Oppenheimer, and Dune: Part Two.
Pugh got lucky at the beginning of her career, nabbing major roles in some of her first acting jobs. While these films might have been made on a lower budget compared to the kinds she is typically seen in now, Pugh was still fortunate to take centre stage early on and prove her incredible acting skills. After a pivotal role in her debut feature, The Falling, alongside Maisie Williams, Pugh appeared in Lady Macbeth, playing the unhappy young wife of an older man who begins a disastrous affair.
The movie, which remains an underrated gem, highlighted Pugh’s ability to lead movies with ease, and she won various awards for it, including a Bifa. Both The Falling and Lady Macbeth were independently made, leaving critics wondering if Pugh was going to be the next indie darling, working with creative and boundary-pushing filmmakers away from the commercial dominance of big studios.
However, Pugh jumped at the opportunity to work with big stars for bigger companies – who can blame her? As a result, she went on to appear alongside Liam Neeson in The Commuter before starring in the Netflix movie Outlaw King. Still, that wasn’t to say she was done with indie cinema, following these roles with independently-produced movies like Fighting With My Family and Midsommar. The latter helped to establish Pugh more widely in Hollywood, and as she continued to earn praise, such as receiving an Oscar nomination for Little Women, the actor was offered a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“I’m working as hard as I used to work.”
florence pugh
Pugh played Yelena in Black Widow opposite Scarlett Johansson, and it received considerable praise for a Marvel movie, with the pair’s performances also garnering acclaim. However, Pugh couldn’t escape criticism from people who believed she had sold out. From her indie roots to her powerful performances in dramas and thrillers, was the actor now just another cog in the Marvel machine?
Talking to Time, Pugh revealed how certain people reacted to her decision to work for Marvel. “So many people in the indie film world were really pissed off at me. They were like, ‘Great, now she’s gone forever.’” Yet, Pugh doesn’t feel as though that side of her career has gone away for good. “And I’m like, no, I’m working as hard as I used to work. I’ve always done back-to-back movies. It’s just people are watching them now. You just have to be a bit more organised with your schedule.”
So, while Pugh might be working with more high-profile companies, like Disney and Marvel, she’s also still interested in indie projects, like her 2024 film We Live in Time. The actor simply wants to expand her career as much as possible, and for Pugh, that means taking on roles in both blockbusters and independent movies.
