Summary
Florence Pugh joined herThunderbolts*co-stars at the San Diego Comic-Con last weekend. At the event, she shared the massive stunt she did for the anticipated Marvel movie.
Pugh plays Yelena Belova,Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow’s estranged sister, in theMarvel Cinematic Universe. She made her MCU debut in Scarlett Johansson’s 2021 action thriller movieBlack Widow. Pugh is among theBlack Widow cast members who also appear inThunderbolts*. Aside from her, David Harbour (Alexei Shoskatov/Red Guardian) and Olga Kurylenko (Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster) are also part of the upcoming superhero movie. At the San Diego Comic-Con, Pugh shared that she did one of the scariest things actors could probably do in their acting careers.
In a short interview withVarietyat the event, Pugh was asked what was the massive stunt she did forThunderbolts*.TheDon’t Worry Darlingactress gave a direct answer, saying, “Jumping off the second tallest building in the world. Bye!“At the event, Pugh gave the stunt team a shoutout while praising everyone for their courageous acts for the film. Shesaid, “I think we all like feeling cool doing stunts. This movie is so wonderful and bizarre, and it’s very brave and it’s because of this cast.” At the panel, Wyatt Russell said it was fun to film with actors he had a good time with. Harbour agreed, before sharing his favorite co-star. For Harbour, his favorite was Pugh because she is “electric to work with” and “There’s warmth and humor, but there’s also a lot of pathos.”
According to Pugh,Thunderboltswas unique from the previous movies she did. She even finds it different from other superhero flicks in several aspects, from how their characters were formulated to how they shot the scenes, and she credits it to its director, Jake Schreier. She toldCBR, “I think that it’s a very, very specific tone and a very unique story that we’re all so grateful for Jake to tell. And even in the way that he shot it, he wanted to shoot everything in real-time, in real ways, with real sets, which is just so abnormal for a superhero movie.” TheOppenheimerstar noted that when they filmedsuperhero movies, they usually used green screen with “super props and walls and mountains.” However, forThunderboltsthey shot in a set with a location and real stunt.
She added:
It felt like we were making an unbelievable real movie about real people that technically we were in a universe that we actually don’t live amongst. So you can imagine the power that we had and we felt on set. And that’s not even explaining the rest of it.
Pugh is one of the biggest stars of her generation. Last year, she was part of two epic movies – Christopher Nolan’sOppenheimerand Denis Villeneuve’sDune: Part Two.Oppenheimergave her the opportunity to work with Cillian Murphy, Josh Hartnett, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Jack Quaid and Marvel veteran Robert Downey Jr. ForDune: Part Two, she starred alongside Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken, Josh Brolin and Dave Bautista to name a few. There’s no shortage of opportunities for such a talent.
Pugh’s performance in her Marvel debut received praise because she played the trained spy and assassin well. Her executions in the action scenes were perfect and the emotions accompanying her line delivery were appropriate in every scene. For instance, during their family reunion dinner, the viewers felt her pain in her voice and facial expressions upon realizing that her own mother created the methods that she was victim to – the program thatDreykov used to control the minds of the Black Widowsto make them obedient subordinates. With Pugh’s acting prowess and versatility in her craft, her scenes inThunderbolts*, especially her jumping off the second tallest building in the world, is something fans should look forward to.
