Florence Pugh truly is one of the most phenomenal actresses of our generation. You may already know some things about this Oscar nominee, like her excellent ability to hide her British accent for roles or being an award nominee since her debut in The Falling. But have you ever noticed the uncanny frown she brings on the big screen that can easily make audiences feel for her characters? Fans have that memorable frown in their minds, and so does the British actress herself, as she explained where that striking facial expression comes from in movies like Midsommar.
It’s no wonder that fans can’t help but notice Florence Pugh’s signature frown that she displays in a lot of her movies. As she sells each performance of hers, the pain of her characters becomes our pain as we watch. While speaking to BBC Radio, the Fighting with My Family actress speaks honestly on where that frown of hers comes from.
I don’t even mean to do it. It’s just genuinely something my face does when I start feeling sad. I remember a boyfriend of mine once, when we would argue or when I’d be sad I’d be like… My whole mouth would be quivering. And he’d be like ‘No, no! Stop! Stop stop stop.’ And I would not be letting myself cry but my whole bottom mouth would be quivering and dimpling. And even when I do cry now on camera it still happens.
See, now I can’t unsee that frown of hers. It’s almost like what you’d see in an animated character where their whole mouth just falls so low to show how sad they are. It’s one thing if this was an acting choice on Florence Pugh’s part, but that truly is the way that she shows her discontent. It's all the more reason why no one should ever try to make this 27-year-old actress cry or our hearts will break with hers.
When you think about it, Florence Pugh really does have a tendency of playing characters who have gone through the wringer. The “beautiful nightmare” from Midsommar had her character, Dani, lose her family in a murder-suicide plot by her sister and left in the clutches of a sinister cult with her unfaithful boyfriend. Filming this movie was no cakewalk for her, as she recalled how intense that iconic crying scene was for her in that she and the other actresses in the scene continued to sob even as the cameras stopped rolling.
The role truly did take a toll on Pugh, as she never played someone with so much pain before and would imagine the worst things to help her get into character. It’s no wonder that critics and audiences praised this gifted actress’s performance. To hear the actress herself talk about how she nailed that frown, take a look at the video below.
Other than Midsommar, Florence Pugh’s frown played a role in other prominent films of hers. In Little Women, she played Amy, who grew up in the shadow of Jo and her other older sisters who seemed to have had life figured out for them. Amy also didn’t have the best luck in romance, as she was promised to a rich man she didn’t love, only to fall for Laurie, who fawned over Jo. That frown was ever present in the heartbreaking scene of telling Laurie that she spent her entire life loving him only for him never to see that until she was engaged to another man. We also saw a down Pugh in the sisterly bond she shared with Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow when Natasha told her younger sister, Yelena, how much their time together has meant to her. I would probably pull the same face too in those scenes.
Florence Pugh’s frown is apparently not forced or controlled when portraying sadness in her movies. It’s a face that breaks our hearts but helps her achieve such a memorable performance. Her 2023 movie releases include Oppenheimer, which has been going through a censorship controversy, and Dune: Part Two, which premieres on November 3rd.
