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Florence Pugh says she was asked to change her face and lose weight at the start of her career

“I think it’s far too easy for people in this industry to push you left and right,“ she said. ”That was so not what I wanted to do.”


Daniel Neira
Daniel Neira - Los Angeles
Senior WriterLos Angeles
NOVEMBER 1, 2022 7:42 PM EDT

Florence Pugh is opening up about the difficult situations she faced during the start of her career in Hollywood. The actress revealed that she had to face a series of offensive comments made by TV producers, criticizing her physical appearance.

The ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ star explained to The Telegraph in a recent interview, that she was asked to lose weight, and to change the “shape” of her face, when she was only 19, after being chosen for a TV series.

Florence admitted that she felt uncomfortable when the negative comments started. “All the things that they were trying to change about me - whether it was my weight, my look, the shape of my face, the shape of my eyebrows - that was so not what I wanted to do, or the industry I wanted to work in.”

And while the series ended up not being produced, the actress would go on to land her breakthrough role in the 2016 film ‘Lady Macbeth,’ which she credits for giving her a boost of confidence and passion, regaining her love for cinema.

European Premiere of 'The Wonder' at the BFI London Film Festival© GettyImages

“That made me fall back in love with cinema,” she said. “The kind of cinema that was a space where you could be opinionated, and loud, and I’ve stuck by that.”

She concluded by saying that she was fortunate to have a good experience afterwards. “I think it’s far too easy for people in this industry to push you left and right. And I was lucky enough to discover when I was 19 what kind of a performer I wanted to be.”