Florence Pugh recently chatted with the Times to promote We Live In Time, her weepy drama with Andrew Garfield. I still haven’t seen it and I don’t want to – I dislike those kinds of manipulative grief-p0rny films. But I do support Florence, who apparently had a big life change because of the movie. After filming it, she broke up with Zach Braff and took a real break from her career for the first time in a decade. She speaks about that and (what else?) body image and standing up for herself online:
Her father wants her to stay “100 per cent Flo Pugh”. “And so I always prodded at things. I’m not nasty — I hope people think I’m kind. But there are fine lines women have to stay within, otherwise they are called a diva, demanding, problematic. And I don’t want to fit into stereotypes made by others. It is really exhausting for a young woman to just be in this industry, and actually other industries. But I’ve always been encouraged to have a voice.”
How ‘We Live in Time’ changed her life: “When I finished filming my life changed,” Pugh explains. She broke up with her long-term boyfriend, the actor Zach Braff, in 2022 and has dated a few people, none famous, since. “Relationships came and went, and I had this opportunity to look at my life away from my work. And I realised, OK, I need to wake the f*** up. I had to look away from my career, from movies, from wanting to be this kind of actor, that kind of actor. Or how many awards I would love to get before I pass away. That’s been my focus for ten years, but I want to make sure that the things I need to do, whether children, family, change, change in relationships … well, I realised I need to make changes now. Because I’m a worker bee and that is why I’ve never wanted a break. Everything was just, wow! What’s next? And it is only ten years in that I can now go, oh, I need to do a bit of my life.”
The sniping criticism of her body: “Look, not everybody has legs that go on for days. I remember watching this industry and feeling that I wasn’t represented. I remember godawful headlines about how Keira Knightley isn’t thin any more, or watching women getting torn apart despite being talented and beautiful. The only thing people want to talk about is some useless crap about how they look. And so I didn’t care to abide by those rules. I’ve loved challenging ideas I don’t like.”
Challenging men’s BS: “I wanted to challenge how women were perceived, how we are supposed to look… Actually I wasn’t trying to challenge. I just wanted to be there, to make space for a version of a person that isn’t all the things they used to have to be. I’m proud I’ve stuck by myself and look the way I look — I’m really interested in people who are still angry with me for not losing more weight, or who just hate my nose ring. I am not going to be able to just change the way that things are — but I can certainly help young women coming into this industry by making conversations happen where they weren’t before.” Recently she revealed that she has had her eggs frozen after a diagnosis of endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome.
Playing characters who were marginalised in the 1800s: “Well, it’s always been fashionable to tell a woman how she should live her life. Or that the decisions they are making are wrong or too loud. It’s about control, isn’t it? It’s still ultimately about suppressing one sex, and we’re dealing with it all the time.”
What it’s all about: “I mean, the world is not exactly fun right now. Whether you’re in your teens having to manoeuvre life on your phone, because the internet’s terrifying, or the wars with many people dying. There’s so much crap, but this reminds everyone that the reason we’re here is to love and be loved. There aren’t car chases. Or aliens. But it’s real — because there is a time frame on our lives and it shouldn’t be something we wait for to happen. Life should be something we’re in control of.”
“Well, it’s always been fashionable to tell a woman how she should live her life.” Amen. That’s a message I wish more young women and girls understood, that none of this is new, even if it feels new or it feels heightened because of the internet. It’s always been the case that men are in women’s business. It’s always been the case that women’s bodies are policed and controlled. As for what she does online to defend herself and her body/looks… she can do whatever she wants, obviously, and I’m sure her words have helped other women. That being said, I do feel like there’s a razor’s edge to walk between “defending yourself from trolls” versus “doing something attention-seeking and attacking people for having an opinion.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
