‘A Good Person’ Co-Stars Florence Pugh and Molly Shannon Literally Beat Each Other Up

Acclaimed Marvel star Florence Pugh spent early 2023 promoting her latest film, A Good Person, alongside the likes of Zach Braff and Molly Shannon. The star reveals some behind-the-scenes info from on set, including how she and Shannon got into it during on memorable scene.

Florence Pugh and Molly Shannon play mother and daughter in ‘A Good Person’

A Good Person is a new 2023 drama written and directed by Pugh’s ex, Braff. The movie centers around Allison, who was part of a fatal car accident years before. She begins to bond with Morgan Freeman’s grieving Daniel while dealing with guilt and addiction.

Another one of Pugh’s cast members is Shannon, who many know best from her Saturday Night Live days. The White Lotus and The Other Two star portrays Allison’s mother, Diane. As an Emmy-nominated actor, Shannon made her mark on her young co-star — albeit in a surprising way.

Florence Pugh and Molly Shannon physically fought on set

Pugh recently went on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to talk about A Good Person. She noted the script was fun to read and said Shannon was “amazing to work with.” Pugh then describes one of the scenes she and Shannon had together.

“We have this epic scene where we chase each other. Well, I run away from her, and she’s chasing after me, and it gets into quite a bit of a tussle,” Pugh explained. “Doing the scene, we had to pause because it was getting quite aggressive. Instead of us, like, maybe not fighting as hard, she [Shannon] was like, ‘Let’s put some pads on.'”

The sentiment was to fight each other harder instead of faking it as many stars do. And as A Good Person doesn’t seem like the kind of film that involves a lot of stunt work, it sounds like Pugh and Shannon had to take matters into their own hands to really make the dramatic relationship between Allison and Diane have the appropriate impact on the audience.

More about ‘A Good Person’

According to Variety, Braff wrote the screenplay for Pugh during the lockdown in 2020. He was dealing with grief from personal losses at the time, which became present in the movie. When he finished writing the script, the relatively short production took off quickly.

Filming for A Good Person only lasted about 26 days but was “emotionally taxing” on the actors. The production also took place in New Jersey and finished in late 2022. It finally hit theaters in March 2023.

Another interesting behind-the-scenes tidbit focuses on Pugh’s looks. In one scene, Allison chops her hair into an uneven pixie cut. Pugh revealed that it was her idea to cut her own hair to add realism. She went to Braff and told him she felt that she should do it.

However, Braff did not think it was possible since figuring out the shooting order would be difficult. Pugh would have had to sport the hairstyle throughout the shoot. All the star responded with was, “You’ll figure it out,” which they clearly did.