Marvel's 'Black Widow' Is 'Raw' And 'Painful' According to Star Florence Pugh
On The Cusp Of Fame
After a string of great performances in Fighting With My Family, Midsommar, and Little Women, Florence Pugh is on the cusp of becoming a household name.
What is sure to push her into The Hollywood A-list is her role in Marvel's upcoming film, Black Widow, which will give fans a deeper look at Scarlett Johansson's beloved character. Johansson opened up about the film, which sounds like a fitting end to the complicated Natasha Romanoff.
"The film deals with real, complicated stuff... a character that has a lot of shame. And maybe in some weird, roundabout way, maybe some of the feelings I had going into this were actually some of her unprocessed feelings that I got to work through while making this film.
She’s a woman whose narrative has been created for her in a lot of ways and the path that has been laid before her is not one that she’s necessarily paved herself."
Heading To The Marvel Universe
We don't know anything concrete about Pugh's character Yelena Belova yet, but in the comics she takes up the mantle of Black Widow after Romanoff. Pugh took part in Variety's Actors On Actors series with Booksmart's Beanie Feldstein, and she opened up about the craziness of shooting a Marvel film.
It was one of the most bizarre, nuts, extravaganza experiences. I just finished on it about three weeks ago. Landed the role in March, April, started prepping in May, and then we shot throughout the whole of summer. We shot in London, Budapest, Morocco, and then they went to Atlanta for a bit."
"Bizarre, Nuts, Extravaganza Experiences"
Pugh also explained to Feldstein that she had such a unique experience with a female director and a largely female cast.
"The fact that I got to do one of those films with a lead actress and the most beautiful and warm director, Kate Shortland, was a very, very unique and special experience. I don’t know what the other films are like and working on them, but I remember being on set many times and thinking, ‘I know this isn’t like this, I know this is unique and I have to take it all in.'"
An Emotional Film
The film also stars Rachel Weisz, David Harbour, and O-T Fagbenle, and Pugh promises that it will satisfy fans of Marvel and the Widow.
"I think we’ve made something very raw and very painful and very beautiful and I think people are going to be really surprised by the outcome of a big action film having that much heart. And I know lots of people will be emotional about her because her character had such a hard ending [in Endgame], but it was special learning from her, and she’s been doing this for like 10 years in those films. For this to be her film was special. And I got to be there and see how she does stunts and lives it, and it’s so her."
Black Widow hits theaters May 1st, 2020.
