Florence Pugh (/pjuː/PEW;[1] born 3 January 1996) is an English actress. She made her acting debut in 2014 in the drama film The Falling. Pugh gained recognition in 2016 for her leading role as a young bride in the independent drama Lady Macbeth, winning a
British Independent Film Award, and drew praise for starring in the miniseries The Little Drummer Girl (2018).
Florence Pugh was born on 3 January 1996 in
Oxford[2][3] to dancer Deborah and restaurateur Clinton Pugh.[4][5] She has three siblings: actor and musician
Toby Sebastian, actress Arabella Gibbins, and Rafaela "Raffie" Pugh.[6] She suffered from
tracheomalacia as a child, which led to frequent hospitalisations. The family relocated to
Manilva in Spain when Pugh was three years old, hoping the warmer weather would improve her health. They lived there until she was six, when they moved back to Oxford.[6][7]
While still studying in
sixth form, Pugh made her professional acting debut in the 2014 drama The Falling, playing a precocious teenager opposite
Maisie Williams.[8][9] Tara Brady of The Irish Times deemed Pugh "remarkable", while
IndieWire's Oliver Lyttelton called her "striking".[10][11] In the same year, Pugh was nominated for Best British Newcomer at the
BFI London Film Festival as well as for Young British / Irish Performer of the Year by the
London Film Critics' Circle.[12][13] The next year, she was cast as a singer-songwriter in the
dramedy pilot Studio City, co-starring
Eric McCormack as the character's father.[14] The pilot was not picked up to series.[15] Pugh later characterised her experience on Studio City negatively due to pressures to change her appearance.[16]
In 2016, Pugh starred in the independent drama Lady Macbeth, a film based on
Nikolai Leskov's novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, and appeared in the first series of the
ITV detective series Marcella.[3] In the former, she played Katherine, an unhappily married bride who grows violent. Pugh attributed her attraction to the part to her partiality to characters with "confusing or at least interesting" motivations.[17] The role earned her acclaim.[17] She also credited the production with reviving her interest in cinema after being dispirited by Studio City.[16] Reviewing the film for Variety, Guy Lodge commended her portrayal of the character's "complex, under-the-skin transformation".[18] She won the
BIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film for the role.[19]
Breakthrough and critical recognition (2019–present)
Pugh starred in three major films in 2019, during which she was recognised as having experienced an international breakthrough.[26][27] She first played professional wrestler
Paige in Fighting with My Family, a comedy-drama about Paige's career. The film premiered at the
2019 Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews.[28] Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent called Pugh "completely convincing as the wrestler", adding that she showed "the same defiance, scruffy glamour and self-deprecating humour as the real life ... Paige".[29] Pugh next headlined
Ari Aster's horror film Midsommar, which chronicles an American couple, played by her and
Jack Reynor, who travel to Sweden and encounter a cult.[30] Critics complimented Pugh's portrayal of the desolate Dani Ardor, with
David Edelstein of Vulture calling it "amazingly vivid".[31][32]
In her final film release of the year, Pugh starred in Little Women, a
period drama film adaptation of
Louisa May Alcott's
novel of the same name directed by
Greta Gerwig. She portrayed
Amy March, a fickle artist, from age 12 into adulthood, and has said that the character is in a "sweet spot of not knowing how to deal with her emotions".[33] The film received critical acclaim and grossed $209 million.[34][35] In his review, David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised the "disarming grace, humor and a willful streak that grows almost imperceptibly into wisdom" with which Pugh managed the part's "tricky contradictions".[36] Pugh earned nominations for the
BAFTA and
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.[34][37]
Pugh portrayed
Yelena Belova, a spy, in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Black Widow.[38] She said the film was about "girls who are stolen from around the world".[39] Released in 2021, it garnered positive reviews from critics, who highlighted Pugh's performance.[40][41]Caryn James of
BBC Culture credited Pugh for making Belova "the most vibrant person in the film, more lived-in than most action-movie characters".[42] She reprised the role in the
Disney+ series Hawkeye later in the year.[43]
In 2022, Pugh starred in the thriller Don't Worry Darling, directed by
Olivia Wilde, and the drama The Wonder, an adaptation of
Emma Donoghue's
namesake novel.[44][45] While filming the former, she allegedly clashed with Wilde, causing her to limit the amount of promotion she did for the film.[46][47]Don't Worry Darling premiered at the
79th Venice International Film Festival, where critics deemed Pugh's performance superior to the film.[48] In The Wonder, she played a nurse in 1862 who is sent to investigate an alleged supernatural miracle.
Kevin Maher of The Times found Pugh's "impossibly vivid and convincing" performance to be the film's prime asset.[49] In her final release of the year, she voiced
Goldilocks in the
DreamWorks animated film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which earned over $480 million worldwide.[50][51]
Zach Braff's drama film A Good Person (2023), in which Pugh stars as a car crash survivor, marked her first producing venture.[52] Instead of opting for a wig, Pugh cut off her own hair for the part.[53] She also wrote and sang two songs, "The Best Part" and "I Hate Myself", for the film's soundtrack.[54] In
Christopher Nolan's biographical film Oppenheimer, starring
Cillian Murphy in the
title role, Pugh played
Communist Party USA member
Jean Tatlock.[55]Empire's Dan Jolin wrote that she "elegantly dominate[s] her few scenes".[56] With a worldwide gross of over $967 million, Oppenheimer is Pugh's highest-grossing release.[51]
Pugh is known for her dress sense, with publications such as Harper's Bazaar and British Vogue calling her fashion choices "bold", "daring" and "unique".[62][63][64][65] At a
Valentino show in 2022, she wore a sheer pink gown, which led to some backlash as it showed her nipples. Commenting on the reception, she defended her choice and her body on Instagram.[66] A year later, she wore another transparent gown to a Valentino event.[67]
Pugh was included on the entertainment category of Forbes magazine's annual
30 Under 30 list, which recognises the 30 most influential people in Europe under the age of 30, in 2019.[68]Time magazine placed her on the artists category of its
100 Next list, which highlights rising stars and emerging leaders in their fields, in 2021.[69] In 2023, the magazine featured her in their
Next Generation Leaders list.[70] In a 2022 readers' poll by Empire magazine, she was voted one of the 50 greatest actors of all time.[71] Terming her "one of the very best of her generation", the magazine attributed her success to bringing "a grounded empathy to her characters".[71]
Personal life and other work
From 2019 to 2022, Pugh was in a relationship with American actor and filmmaker
Zach Braff.[72] They met while working together on the short film In the Time It Takes to Get There,[73] which Braff directed,[74] and lived together in Los Angeles.[75]
Pugh has been nominated for an
Academy Award and two
British Academy Film Awards.[34][89] She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, both for her work in Little Women, as well as a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination. Her performances in Lady Macbeth and The Wonder respectively earned her a
British Independent Film Award win and another nomination.[19][90] At the
2019 Cannes Film Festival, Pugh was awarded the
Trophée Chopard.[91]
^Muir, Kate (11 October 2014). "The Falling at the London Film Festival". The Times.
Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021. Lydia's best friend for ever ... is Abbie, played by Florence Pugh, who was nominated for best newcomer at the festival.