We Live in Time star, Florence Pugh, opened up about her role in Midsommar, a 2019 horror/mystery movie. She is now sure enough to say no to such roles as she “can’t do” them due to their intensity.
In her interview for Reign with Josh Smith, she explained that she has started prioritising her mental health and her role in Midsommar as Dani was something that broke her “for a long time afterwards.”
She stated explicitly that it was like an “abuse” to herself, citing the role's extent that was demanded of her. She knew it was the nature of figuring things out as she let herself go.
However, she soon realised that it “was too much” for her. Despite receiving critical acclaim for her role, she was still proud of herself for how she managed to portray the character.
Pugh said that although she doesn’t regret doing the role, there definitely remains a need to draw a line and have “respect about yourself.”
The reason she revealed the details about the intensity of the movie is that she admitted keeping bits of every character she had played till now within herself.
Therefore, she took pride in her work as she said that it wouldn’t have been possible without “going all the way and putting myself in all of those characters.” She always developed an attachment to the character even if it had done “God-awful things” and wanted to protect it till the end. She believed that it was natural when you are connected to it for quite a long time.
She further went on to praise Midsommar director, Ari Aster, who kept the spirits high of his entire cast. He himself was aware that the film was unsettling and tried to make his cast laugh, including Pugh, during a difficult shoot, she disclosed.
It was an unnerving story of a girl, Dani, who had recently lost her parents and sister and was drawn to attend a nine-day celebration conducted in the small far-away village community of her boyfriend’s friend.
The film was apparently beautiful and everything about the small village place seemed comforting until the first ritual started. The brazen violence in daylight and the disturbing rituals cast a strong and inescapable spell upon the viewers.
It was hard for Pugh to not feel trapped in the vulnerable role in the presence of open and beguiling darkness. The long takes and the accompanying silence in the scenes put another level of terror and discomfort.
The poster of the film before its release that showed Pugh crying uncontrollably already was the beginning of something sinister with its rich but disturbing imagery and psychological manipulation. Hence, having a direct experience, Pugh legitimately mentioned it as an “abuse.”