Florence Pugh doesn’t understand why actresses are also expected to be models.
The Oscar-nominated actress opened up during a recent Who What Wear cover story about how the expectations in Hollywood have changed, such as reports of needing a high social media follower count for auditions and how actors can’t just work as actors.
“It’s so shit,” Pugh said. “It’s not the same thing. It’s not the same thing at all. I had this conversation recently with a friend. … It’s just mental that red carpets are even an expectancy of someone that is not… That’s not even their job. … They don’t model. They are good at being on a camera that is this close with that face, and they know how to show how raw their soul is on the flick of a switch. That’s their talent. Their talent isn’t anything beyond that. I mean, it might be, but that’s what they’re getting paid to do, and that’s what we recognize them for. And you’re supposed to be able to be like a runway model, and you’re compared against runway models.”
The Thunderbolts* star speaks from experience, going from feeling “so self-conscious in the clothes” during photoshoots to eventually learning what works best for her body type and advocating for herself on set.
“Once you do, you know, shoot after shoot after shoot, you get better, and you get more confidence,” she explained. “You see the pictures, and you see the work, and you’re like, ‘Okay, that looks great. I’m going to now make sure that I know how to argue when a certain piece of clothing isn’t working.’”
When asked if modeling is similar to taking on a role, Pugh said it’s quite the opposite. “It’s so exposing because it’s you being beautiful, which is like everybody’s inner hell,” she noted.
Over time, having been in the industry for more than a decade and starred in numerous projects such as Dune: Part Two, We Live in Time, Oppenheimer and Don’t Worry Darling, Pugh has learned to make the most out of every moment, while still reminding herself what she’s there to do.
She added, “If I’m disappointed about how something turned out or looked or if someone’s saying something nasty about the dress that I was wearing or if I was a bit too heavy for the dress or a bit too this or that or whatever shit someone wanted to say to me, I have to be like, ‘Babe, this is not even why you’re… This is not your job.’”
