Florence Pugh admits her 'Midsommar' role left her feeling 'broken for quite some time'

Florence Pugh hesitates to embrace another character akin to her 2019 horror role in "Midsommar," admitting she felt she "abused" herself and remained "broken for a long while afterwards." In the film, the British actress embodied Dani, a bereaved graduate student accompanying her boyfriend to rural Sweden to witness a rare festival held every 90 years during the summer solstice. Soon, the seemingly welcoming community unravels into a sinister tapestry of pagan rituals and cultish horrors in Ari Aster's film, loosely based on the Scandinavian midsummer festival.

"I've had to learn how to protect myself," Pugh shared on the "Reign with Josh Smith" podcast. Currently starring alongside Andrew Garfield in the fresh romantic drama "We Live in Time," she discussed how some roles demand "too much" of her, leaving her feeling "broken for a long while afterwards." Reflecting on "Midsommar," she confessed, "I definitely felt like I abused myself in the places that I got myself to go."

Navigating these experiences requires acknowledging, "Alright, I can’t do that again because it was too much." In an interview with The Sunday Times last month, Pugh revealed the harrowing mental state she had to evoke for the role, envisioning family members in coffins and attending an open casket funeral for her siblings. "I was hyperventilating," she disclosed to the British paper. "Over the years, I’ve had to figure out how to not utterly destroy myself."

Despite the arduous journey, Pugh has previously lauded her director, telling the New York Times in 2023 that Aster was "peculiar in the mad genius kind of way." Despite the challenges faced during filming, Pugh expressed pride in her performance, which garnered acclaim from critics and achieved box office success. "I’m really proud of what I did and I’m proud of what came out of me, so I don’t regret it," she affirmed.