Lady Macbeth star Florence Pugh reveals Bafta nominated character had sex every two minutes
BAFTA-nominated Florence Pugh reveals she was not fazed by filming 'tons' of sex in her title role for hit movie Lady Macbeth - and plenty more about her life and career
BAFTA-nominated Florence Pugh has revealed she was not fazed by filming “tons” of sex in her title role for hit movie Lady Macbeth.
The 2017 drama, based on a Russian novella, won Florence, 22, a nod for the Rising Star gong at tonight’s awards bash and it saw her repeatedly strip for explicit scenes.
The raciest action came when her character, a virgin sold into marriage with an older man on a country estate in 19th-century England, had an affair with groundsman Sebastian.
But the actress insists she never felt uncomfy, because Katherine would never have “kept her knickers on” during their romance.
She says: “I never felt I was being used or that my body was being displayed. It was just really obvious to me that if this couple are really in love and having sex every two minutes, then she’s not going to be getting out of bed with her knickers on. It’s not going to happen.”
Just four years into her acting career, Florence has already had plenty of nude scenes.
Two years ago, she went starkers as webcam sex worker and thief Cara Thomas in ITV drama Marcella, starring alongside Anna Friel.
And she feels encouraged by the Hollywood revolution happening around her as the #MeToo move-ment gathers strength.
She says: “It’s a wonderful time to be a young actress coming up — knowing if any ‘stuff’ was to happen to me, my voice would be heard.
‘I just started weeping, weeping and weeping’
“Not only would it be heard, it would be welcomed and praised until someone got their comeuppance. That’s very comforting and it’s empowering.”
Oxfordshire-born Florence went to Spain with her family after she developed tracheomalacia, an illness affecting breathing that is aggravated by cold weather.
But despite her illness, she believes she was “destined” to act.
The family returned to England when she was six and she threw herself into school drama shows in Oxford — until, when she was 17, a leaflet advertising auditions for 2014 movie The Falling caught her eye. The film, directed by Carol Morley, saw her play a surly boarding school girl with an infectious sexual energy who turned an entire social system on its head.
But while she won considerable praise for her performance, the fame it might have brought was slow to materialise.
Instead, she was plunged into two years of “crap auditions”, meetings with “opinionated producers” and reading awful scripts with “naff roles” for young women.
But when she won the part in Lady Macbeth, which is directed by William Oldroyd and based on the 1865 story Lady Macbeth Of The Mtsensk District, by Nikolai Leskov, her fortunes changed.
Florence, then 19, admits: “I kept thinking, ‘What’s the catch? There has to be something wrong. It’s an incredible character, an incredible script, and they’re willing to hand it over to an unknown? What’s wrong with it?’
“The magic of it all was, of course, that there was nothing wrong.”
In the film, her character Katherine’s arranged marriage lands her among a family of rich, arrogant men. But she slowly schools them in the wrath of a woman scorned — before exacting terrible, murderous revenge.
She poisons her father-in-law, bludgeons her husband to death and shoots his horse. The controversial scenes left their mark on Florence and she admits to breaking down in floods of tears after filming them.
She remembers: “I just started weeping and weeping and weeping.”
But the trauma paid off in the shape of the film’s hammer-blow impact with audiences.
Not long after it was released, what Florence calls “the chat” began — as people began to whisper about her as an up-and- coming new talent.
The whispers reached a peak for Florence as she filmed crime movie The Commuter, which was released last month and features her as a punk named Gwen. During a break from shooting, that film’s star, Liam Neeson, congratulated Florence on her performance in Lady Macbeth.
She recalls: “He said, ‘Florence, I just want to say I’ve heard about Lady Macbeth and it looks fantastic. Congratulations’.”
‘I’ve a feeling who’s going to win it – it won’t be me’
ODDS ON
Gary Oldman is huge favourite to win best actor for Darkest Hour at 12/1 on
Meryl Streep in 2003 started an acceptance speech: “I’d like to spank . . . ”
Frances McDormand is 11/4 on for best actress for her turn in Three Billboards
Woody Allen is Bafta’s most-decorated star, with 24 nominations and ten wins
Another massive career moment — though Florence plays it down — came when she was nominated for the Rising Star Award at the EE British Academy Film Awards, being held tonight.
Previous winners of this Bafta include Tom Hardy, Jack O’Connell and John Boyega. But Florence — up against Daniel Kaluuya from Get Out, Josh O’Connor (God’s Own Country, Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok) and Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) — reckons she will come away empty-handed.
She says: “I have a feeling who’s going to win it — and it won’t be me.
“My heart goes out to Josh, because I love him and our films got attention at the same time, but I think it’s going to be Daniel or Timothee.” She adds: “The awards matter when you are included but you don’t lose any sleep because you haven’t been nominated.
“They’re nice to give everyone that moment that allows a pat on the back, but, really, they’re nothing.
“Just something that you can keep on your shelf.” Awards aside, Florence has just finished working on a new BBC adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear.
She plays the crazed monarch’s youngest daughter Cordelia and cannot fail to learn more about her craft from her illustrious co-stars Anthony Hopkins, in the title role, and Emma Thompson.
Florence recently joined Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in filming the wrestling movie Fighting With My Family.
And she is now filming new John le Carre BBC mini-series The Little Drummer Girl, with Alexander Skarsgard and Michael Shannon.
She laughs: “Yes, people are soon going to be sick of me. They will be taking eggs into the cinema and throwing them at the screen by the end of 2018.”
Should Kate go black?
By Gabriele Dirvanauskas
TONIGHT’S Bafta awards will present a style conundrum for the Duchess of Cambridge.
Actresses are being encouraged to wear black, in a continuing show of support for the #MeToo movement.
The protest against sexual harassment saw a sea of black dresses at the Golden Globe Awards in LA last month, as a show of solidarity for the many people who have been affected by the crime.
But by tradition, members of the Royal Family aren’t supposed to make political statements.
However, the few women who did wear other colours at the Golden Globes were criticised for doing so.
It wouldn’t be fitting for Kate Middleton to be the odd one out at the event, but as a fitting compromise she could wear a patterned black gown, which would hopefully be considered acceptable in all quarters.
Kate wore a black floral Alexander McQueen design to last year’s ceremony and a similar style would demonstrate that she both backs the movement and has a respect for royal protocol.