Florence Pugh Biography

Florence Pugh was born on January 3, 1996, in Oxford, England, to Deborah and Clinton Pugh. She was born as the second youngest among four siblings. Her mother was a dancer and worked as a dance teacher, and her father was a restaurateur who owned a restaurant chain in the UK.

Florence grew up in a highly creative environment, where her mother, who is a dancer, always inspired her to pursue her greatest passion as a career. All her siblings pursued drama and were skilled performers, which has further fostered her interest in the field of acting. Her elder brother Toby Sebastian began acting when he was 16, which was another reason that inspired Florence to pursue acting since her early school years.

She made her first appearance onstage at the age of 6 when she played “Mary” in a nativity play at her school. She attended St Edward’s School, a private boarding school. It was an elite school, where she constantly did plays through her grades.

As a child, she was frequently in and out of hospitals since she suffered from asthmatic symptoms due to collapsed airways. The family thought that the dry and cold temperature of Oxford was the reason behind her sickness and hence relocated to Spain when she was 3 years old, hoping that a warmer climate would help with her respiratory issues. She returned back to Oxford at the age of 6.

Though she received an elite education at two private schools in Oxford, she disliked her schools as her acting talent went unnoticed and her dream of a career in acting was not supported. She was more interested in courses such as creative writing and ceramics, which constituted a very small part of her school syllabus.

When she was 17 years old, she auditioned for and was selected to play one of the lead roles in the 2014 film titled The Falling. The film also starred Maisie Williams in the lead role of Lydia Lamont, while Florence was cast as her best friend Abigail Mortimer. The BBC-funded mystery drama film received good reviews at the box office. But due to its independent nature, the film did not receive a wide release and was a box office disaster.

It was the first time that Florence had auditioned for a screen role, and playing a key role in her first film pushed her forth toward fame. She was 18 at the time of the film’s release and managed to impress the critics with her performance as a precocious teenager.

Her performance was hailed as “remarkable,” and she received a nomination for a BFI London Film Festival Award for Best British Newcomer and the Young British/Irish Performer of the Year at the London Film Critics’ Circle.

In 2015, she played a key role in the pilot episode of the television series titled Studio City, which was never aired.

In 2016, she had yet another major career breakthrough when she appeared in the lead role in the British drama film titled Lady Macbeth, which was based on William Shakespeare’s popular play Macbeth. She portrayed the role of Katherine Lester in the film. The film was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was also showcased at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film received widespread critical acclaim upon its theatrical release. The praises were directed mostly toward the screenplay and the acting, especially Florence’s portrayal of a young bride facing emotional conundrums after getting married to a man twice her age. The film turned out to be a huge commercial success.

In the same year, she was seen in a supporting role as Cara Thomas in three episodes of the detective series titled Marcella.

She did not appear on the big screen in 2017, but in the following year, she appeared in four films. Her first film in 2018 was the action thriller The Commuter. She played a supporting role as Gwen in the film, and the film turned out to be a moderate critical success and a big commercial success.

In 2018, she also appeared in one of the key roles as Elizabeth de Burgh in the historical action drama film titled Outlaw King. The film received its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and was a mixed critical success upon its theatrical release.

In the 2018 horror film titled Malevolent, she played the lead role as Angela Sayers. The film gained good reviews upon its worldwide release on the streaming platform Netflix.

Florence’s final film of 2018 was the comical short film titled Leading Lady Parts, starring alongside Catherine Tate and Emilia Clarke in the lead roles.

She was also seen in a major role in the television film titled King Lear, starring the legendary actor Anthony Hopkins. The film was an adaptation of the play of the same name by William Shakespeare. Florence portrayed one of the key roles as Cordelia in the film, which was a huge critical success.

She further appeared playing one of the main roles in the spy drama miniseries titled The Little Drummer Girl, which also starred Michael Shannon in the lead role. The drama series directed by the ace South Korean film director Park Chan-Wook was universally appreciated and became a major critical success upon its release.

In 2019, she played the lead role of English professional wrestler Saraya Knight in the biographical sports drama film titled Fighting with My Family. The film, directed by Stephen Merchant, turned out to be a major critical and commercial success.

Later in the same year, she appeared playing the lead role in director Ari Aster’s folk horror film titled Midsommar. It was the most successful and controversial film of her acting career. Florence played a psychologist named Dani Ardor in the film, which was mostly set in Sweden. Her performance was widely appreciated, and the film also turned out to be a greatest critical and commercial success.

In the same year, she further appeared in another highly appreciated role in the period drama film titled Little Women. The film, which was directed by Greta Gerwig, features Florence as Amy March. The film was a huge critical and commercial success and was nominated for six Academy Awards, and Florence received an Oscar nomination for the Best Supporting Actress. She won a BAFTA Award for her amazing performance in the film.

In 2020, she appeared in the fifth installment of the popular comedy and romantic film series titled Father of the Bride. The film was released on Netflix in September 2020.

In the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Widow, Florence played the role of Yelena Belova, a kind of sister figure to Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, a fictional character played by Scarlett Johansson. She will further reprise the role in the series Hawkeye.

Florence Pugh met American actor and director Zach Braff during the shoot for the film In the Time It Takes to Get There. She was acting in the film, and Zach was the director of the film. They began dating during the film’s production, and they are currently living together in Los Angeles.

Florence spends her free time composing music. She sings and writes her own songs. In addition, she plays piano and guitar.

In 2020, she was part of the charitable movement called Acting for a Cause, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic.