Florence Pugh Says Marvel’s ‘Precise’ Schedule Helps Her Make Career Choices
Florence Pugh is an actor in high demand thanks to her numerous excellent performances in movies of various genres. But many know her best for her role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Yelena Belova. Having so much of her calendar spoken for by one property could frustrate a talent like Pugh. But she appreciates that the MCU forces her to consider her choices on a deeper level.
Florence Pugh is becoming a prominent member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Yelena made her on-screen debut in Black Widow in 2021. Like Natasha Romanoff, she is a victim of the Red Room training program. The two come together in the movie to overcome their traumatic childhoods, kill General Dreykov, and destroy the Red Room once and for all.
Black Widow was imagined as a fond farewell for Scarlett Johansson as she left the franchise after a decade. But it was Pugh’s charisma that stood out to most fans. She then reprised the role in three episodes of the Disney+ show Hawkeye.
Yelena hasn’t been seen in another Marvel project since, but her reappearance is only a matter of time. She will be part of the Thunderbolts movie near the end of Phase Five. The squad also includes Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). The film’s current release date is July 26, 2024.
Florence Pugh enjoys the specificity in Marvel’s production schedule
Signing up to act in a modern comic book franchise means something different than any other acting job. It also means agreeing to consign large parts of your working life to Marvel as Kevin Feige plays logistical Tetris with dozens of characters and storylines.
This fundamentally changes the dynamic for a performer, and in Pugh’s opinion, it’s for the better. She explained in an interview with Vanity Fair that she enjoys working around these commitments to find time to star in other projects that interest her.
“Working with Marvel has helped hugely. Their schedule is so precise—they know when they’re going to make it, when they’re going to release it. What that means is if you want to fill your time with other things, you have to do it amongst that,” Pugh said.
“You’re able to have a lot more leeway: ‘Oh, I’m going to be away doing this for this certain amount of time, so I need to make sure that I can get in a little indie here, or do a play.’ So that’s what I’m trying to do now. With this year, I went into the year willing it to make its own thing, and didn’t have any projects specifically lined up—like, hopefully there would be one special big thing or one special little thing,” she explained.
Fortunately for Pugh and the moviegoing audience, she has multiple “special little things” on the way this year.
Florence Pugh stars in two of 2023’s biggest movies and a grounded indie story
In fact, 2023 is set to be Pugh’s biggest year yet.
First up is A Good Person, which is written and directed by Pugh’s ex Zach Braff. The movie also stars Morgan Freeman and Molly Shannon and hits theaters on March 24.
Then in the summer comes Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and his role in the Manhattan Project that introduced the power of nuclear bombs into the world. Pugh plays Jean Tatlock, a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America. The film is set to be released on July 21.
At the end of the year, Pugh joins another adaptation of a sci-fi IP. She is part of the ensemble that of Dune: Part Two, playing Princess Irulan, daughter of Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken). It is scheduled for release on November 3, 2023.
