Florence Pugh debuted as Yelena Belova in Black Widow, before reprising the role for the Hawkeye Disney+ series. We will next see her take the lead in Thunderbolts, and her character is reportedly primed to be a major player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward.
But if the Fighting With My Family star had listened to some advice she received earlier in her career, things could have worked out very differently.
During an interview with Total Film, Pugh revealed that she was cautioned against joining a massive franchise like the MCU shortly after signing on for Black Widow.
"When I first signed onto Marvel, lots of people from the indie-film world were all telling me that I was never going to go back to small movies again, and it always kind of wound me up," she explained. "Because I think there’s beauty in all types of those films. There’s beauty in the massive, epic storylines like Dune, like Marvel, like even Oppenheimer that I did. They’re amazing, mega movies. And then there’s also beauty in all these little ones that not everyone is going to see, but are going to affect the right person at the right time. I’ve never, ever only thought that I was going to just do one type of movie. I’ve always known that I want to dabble in all areas."
We know that a Marvel Studios contract is a huge commitment for an actor, but many of the biggest MCU stars still manage to appear in smaller projects. Finding time to direct might be more of a challenge, but it's something Pugh hopes to tackle one day.
"It’s also good for my brain to dabble in all areas. I would love to direct. I know how important it is to have a good dialogue with your director. I know how crucial it is. And I just feel like you can’t just throw yourself at it, and hope that the spaghetti sticks. I need to learn a bit more, and understand why things go where [they do], and really watch all these people that I have been watching."
Thunderbolts is currently slated to open on July 26, 2024.