Anyone who has closely followed Florence Pugh’s work can probably see a through-line when it comes to the characters she plays. In Pugh's best movies, she typically portrays women who are placed in tough situations and ultimately come out stronger than before. When Pugh was asked about her distinct acting choices, she shared some bold thoughts on the subject.
Something Pugh deserves credit for is having the courage to break out of her comfort zone to play a part. She previously spoke about her desire to get “dirty” with stunts while also getting emotionally vulnerable to ensure a powerful performance. When asked about her acting choices at The Atlantic Festival, Pugh described playing these tough, vulnerable women as a personal “fetish”:
Someone said that I like to play a lot of women that are trapped and like to break free. And I was like, not no, because I do think there’s something really empowering about seeing a woman, like, scream in the face of her destiny. And to be able to get to do that in my lifetime, acting it, just in case I don’t do that in my actual lifetime, is also really cool. So yeah, I think just really, really juicy complicated women are my fetish.
I really love this explanation. Sure, a number of Pugh’s characters go through immense trauma and make less-than-affable choices. But, despite that, audiences feel every heart-wrenching emotion Pugh brings out and, as a result, they feel for her characters in some way.
The list of movies where Florence Pugh has flawlessly portrayed “trapped” and “complicated” women is endless. Pugh’s breakthrough film, Lady Macbeth, is a perfect example. In the British period film, the BAFTA nominee portrays the 19th-century titular role, refusing to feel stuck in a loveless marriage forced on her.
Of course, Pugh's performance in her A24 horror film, Midsommar, still lives in many viewers' minds rent-free. While playing a grief-stricken woman looking to escape to a Swedish festival, Pugh put herself through intense crying scenes so fierce that even those involved couldn’t pull themselves together after the cameras stopped rolling. Despite forcing herself into a tough mental headspace to reflect her character’s desperation and pain, Pugh still said she was proud of her dedicated performance.
There's also the starlet's Oscar-nominated performance in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women. While the classic book adaptation is much more light-hearted than Midsommar or Lady MacBeth, Pugh’s Amy March goes through the struggle of wanting to fulfill her own ambitions compared to depending on a husband to be financially stable. Through that role, Pugh helps convey the idea of a woman simply wanting to be her own person.
And those aren't even all of the roles that can be applied to Florence Pugh's "fetish" for playing complex ladies. I mean, she even does this in the blockbuster space with former Red Room trainee and current Black Widow Yelena Belova of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and she'll reprise that role in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday).
Quite frankly, Pugh's distinct acting choices have been great, and they're arguably what help make her one of the most interesting actors of her generation and one of the marquee talents of the 2026 movie schedule.
