Actress commented on the emotional challenges of playing intense characters
Florence Pughknown for its work in Midsommar (2019), revealed that she would hardly accept roles as emotionally exhausting as protagonist Dani again. In a podcast interview “Reign with Josh Smith”the actress spoke about the emotional and psychological impact the role had on her life and how she learned to set limits in her career.
There were some roles where I gave too much of myself and was left broken for a long time afterwards. When I did MidsommarI definitely felt like I abused myself in the places I took myself to play that role.
In the plot directed by Ari AsterDani is a grieving young American who goes through an intense psychological journey during a trip to a summer festival in Sweden. Pugh commented that, despite the wear and tear, he is proud of the result:
The nature of figuring these things out is that you have to say, ‘Okay, well, I can’t do that again because it was too much.’ But then I look back at that performance and I’m really proud of what I did, and I’m proud of what came out of me. I don’t regret it. But, yes, there are definitely things you have to respect about yourself.
To the podcast “Off Menu”Florence said that “I had never played someone who was in so much pain” even Dani in Midsommar: “I would put myself in really bad situations that maybe other actors wouldn’t have to do, but I kept imagining the worst things. I think in the end I probably abused myself to get that performance.”
After completing filming MidsommarPugh went straight to the set of Little Womenby Greta Gerwig, where she faced difficulties making the emotional transition between projects.
I remember looking [para fora do avião] and feel immense guilt because I felt as if I had left [Dani] in that field in that state [emocional]. It’s so strange. I’ve never been through this before. …Obviously, this is probably a psychological thing, where I felt immense guilt for what I put myself through, but I felt like I left her there in that camp to be abused… almost like I created this person and then left her there to go make another film.
The full interview with Florence Pugh is available on the podcast “Reign with Josh Smith”.
Source: Rollingstone
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