Florence Pugh refuses to talk about ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ in new Vogue cover story

Miss Flo also discusses last year’s headline-grabbing sheer Valentino dress
January 12, 2023 1:58 p.m. EST
January 12, 2023 1:58 p.m. EST

Midsommar star Florence Pugh is gracing the cover of Vogue’s winter issue, and she gives a revealing look into her personal life, her work ethos, and her grounded and unwavering views on how the media and the patriarchy treats women’s bodies.

In 20223, Florence was at the centre of a few eyebrow-raising dramas, one being the rumoured tension on the set of her latest film Don’t Worry Darling, and the other being her appearance at a Rome fashion show where she wore a sheer Valentino dress, exposing her nipples

In the Vogue story, only one of those topics was addressed.

 

 

Back in July, the Black Widow star wrote a response on Instagram to the gruesome and abusive trolls who were trying to body shame her for wearing the sheer dress, telling them to “grow up.” Now, speaking with Vogue, she elaborates on the idea that women’s bodies are still so politicized and policed, indicating the need for more feminist work to be done.

“How can my nipples offend you that much?” she told the outlet.

She later explained why more feminist thought is needed in the public sphere, saying,  “It’s very important that we do this. I know that some people might scoff at me saying that, but if a dress with my breasts peeking through is encouraging people to say, ‘Well, if you were to get raped, you would deserve it,’ it just shows me that there’s so much more work to do.”

The in-depth interview also talks about the pressure in Hollywood to achieve a certain body type that may be harmful, resulting in both mental and physical troubles. “I’m never losing weight to look fantastic for a role,” she says, revealing that she sees her body like  a canvas to tell a specific story. “It’s more like: How would this character have lived? What would she be eating?”

 

 

Of course, the topic of Don’t Worry Darling came up. The production of the film was fraught with tension from the beginning: Shia LaBeouf was cast, then apparently fired and replaced by Harry Styles, but LaBeouf countered that he actually quit the production. Director and actress Olivia Wilde reportedly denigrated Florence by calling her “Miss Flo” in text messages to LaBeouf. Wilde and star Harry Styles embarked on a two-year relationship that divided Styles’ fans and also brought about accusations of possible cheating (Wilde had just separated from partner Jason Sudeikis, with whom she shares two children). And Wilde was publicly served with legal documents by Sudeikis’ legal team while she was on stage at CinemaCon in 2022. That’s a lot to take in right there.

When the topic came up, Vogue simply writes, “Pugh certainly doesn’t want to discuss any of it.”

That silence is deafening, fam. Sometimes, no response is a response!

However, the Little Women Oscar-nominee is very forthcoming with a lot of other details of her life, most notably her breakup with Garden State actor/director Zach Braff: “My breakup has been very new, so I’m figuring that out,” she says. 

Braff himself is also interviewed for the piece, and he simply gushes over his ex-girlfriend, saying, “I quite simply think she’s one of the greatest actors of her generation. She’s just magnetic. You cannot take your eyes off of her. And it’s not just her beauty and it’s not just her acting ability, it’s that thing, that magic thing that transcends the screen, where anyone and everyone goes: I want to see whatever this person does.” 

We love this.

 

 

There is also a Canadian connection to Pugh and Braff’s story that is thoroughly explored in the story. Canadian actor and singer Nick Cordero, who was one of the first public figures to die of COVID-19 complications in 2020, was Braff’s best friend, and was living in Braff’s guesthouse with his wife Amanda Kloots and their baby son. 

Braff and Pugh tell the publication just how devastating that time was, and how they felt powerless in that situation.

“Our property became ground zero for Amanda,” Braff says. “So many amazing human beings came by, and they’d walk her baby so she could just have an hour of solitude. Florence would make pizzas and bring them down to her. And we were afraid of COVID, of course. So she would sit on the front stoop and we would sit on a bench six feet away. It was a very, very, very intense time, and we couldn’t even properly comfort Amanda. Of course, we broke down and just said, f**k it, and hugged her.” 

Florence then says that Nick Cordero was the glue holding everyone together, saying he “made everyone feel good—in terms of my relationship to that friendship group and that life, Nick was such a massive part of it.” 

 

 

 

The cover story also has a lot of interesting tidbits about Florence’s penchant for cooking, her new life in South London, and her upbringing in both the UK and Spain. But if we leave you anything, let it be this glowing Yelp-style review of Flor by Scarlett Johansson, her costar in Black Widow.

“Florence isn’t afraid to sit in the choices she’s made for her characters,” the Lost In Translation star tells the outlet. “She commits to the idea of a multifaceted and complex person with all their stubbornness and flaws. It’s one of the many qualities that makes her so delicious to watch.”

You can read the entire Vogue story here.

 


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