Why Florence Pugh Is Taking A Break From Acting After Black Widow

Florence Pugh in Black Widow

You'd be forgiven if little more than a year ago, you'd never heard of Florence Pugh, but just over a year later, it's basically impossible for anybody who watches movies to not know who she is. She's had a string of highly regarded films that was capped off with an Oscar nomination, and now, she's going to star in what will be, whenever we see it, one of the biggest movies of the year. And Florence Pugh says she's ready for a break.

Of course, under the circumstances, everybody in Hollywood is taking a break right now, but the actress told THR earlier this year, before we were all stuck at home, and Pugh had become an Instagram cooking sensation, that following Black Widow's release, she was planning on taking a break from making movies, after going at it pretty hard for the last few years. According to Pugh...

I am taking a break. I'm aware that I've been going for about four years now. I've been saying I need to just chill for a second for about two years, but I'm so bad, because I will hear that something's going around, and I'm like, 'Oh my God. I need to do Midsommar.' Then they're like, 'But Florence, you said you wanted to have a break.' So that's my fault. But I am going to try and just rest for a second.

Florence Pugh had several TV and film roles over the last few years. You might have caught her in Outlaw King on Netflix or in Liam Neeson's The Commuter. However, it was her starring role in Fighting with My Family last year that brought her to mainstream attention. She followed that with a role in the chilling Midsommar, and then, her third film of 2019 was Little Women, which earned her an Oscar nomination for actress in a supporting role. Barely more than 12 months after the ride had started, she was set to appear alongside Scarlett Johansson in the first film of the new phase of Marvel's Cinematic Universe, Black Widow. That movie will still happen, though its release is on hold.

Of course, right now Florence Pugh is getting that break she wanted, though certainly not in the way she had anticipated. Movie releases and production are all on hold. Pugh couldn't be making a movie right now if she wanted to. She's stuck at home like the rest of us, but she hasn't really been taking a break. She basically started her own cooking show on social media.

If Florence Pugh has a tendency to be pulled out of a break by a film that she really wants to do, it seems quite possible that could happen again. Once things do get up and running maybe somebody will make her an offer she can't refuse. After all, she got the break she was looking for.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.