Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow Movie Will Be 'Raw and Painful,' Says Her Costar Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh’s next major role is opposite Scarlett Johansson in the anticipated Black Widow movie — and she’s previewing just how impactful the standalone Marvel adventure will be.
The breakout star of this summer’s hit horror film Midsommar, who also stars in next month’s Little Women, recently sat down for Variety‘s Actors on Actors series where she briefly talked about how surprisingly emotional the action movie is. Though Johansson’s Black Widow character met her end in Avengers: Endgame, the movie will focus on the Russian spy’s past and how she came to be one of earth’s mightiest heroes.
“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,” she told Beanie Feldstein, who starred in Booksmart this year.
“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,” Pugh, 23, added of Johansson. “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.”
Last month, Johansson herself said similar things about the upcoming movie, which she said was “was more than I ever could have hoped for.”
“The film deals with real, complicated stuff,” she told USA Today, calling Black Widow “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,” she continued. “I have felt that way at times in my life and in my career. I think every woman has struggled with what is expected of them,” she says.
The movie, which was officially announced at the San Diego Comic-Con, also stars Rachel Weisz and David Harbour. It’s set to hit theaters on May 1, 2020.
