Little Women star Florence Pugh has spilled the beans on her Oscar-nominated role and the off-screen scraps she had with fellow star Saoirse Ronan.
The pair play sisters in the coming-of-age period drama and Florence reckons real-life play fights helped them get into character.
She says: “Saoirse and I would give each other funny looks and that would mean, ‘Let’s fight’. We would either be wrestling or messing about.”
The rough-and-tumbles were so convincing they used it to good effect on screen.
Florence adds: “During our fight scene, I was like, ‘Saoirse, just jump on me and hit me in the face!’ And she goes, ‘OK!’ And then, when she hit me, Saoirse got upset and said, ‘Oh, you’re welling up!’
“But that was so much fun and can only happen when you trust someone and you love them. We really did.”
Saoirse, 25, plays Jo March, while English actress Florence stars as her naughty younger sister, Amy.
Florence, 24, says the entire cast – including Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen and Laura Dern – bonded over late night meals and snacking sessions.
She goes on: “We hit it off from the start. We all have pretty much the same sense of humour and could talk about anything with each other. We would bond over these dinner nights and just hang out together – it was like a slumber party. We would cook together and really feel very cosy and comfortable.
“We were constantly stuffing ourselves with bowls of ice cream.”
Florence, from Oxford, has been nominated as Best Supporting Actress and is also February’s Vogue magazine cover star. Yet she admits feeling like
a newcomer to the industry, adding: “I feel like I’m at the beginning of everything and it’s all very exciting and new.
“I love the unpredictable side of it all.”
Florence knew all about Little Women from years ago – explaining how her gran would read Louisa May Alcott’s story to her.
She says: “It was one of my favourite novels. What is odd is that my grandmother hated Amy and would keep stopping, saying, ‘What a wicked girl’.
"So that was my initial impression of Amy for the longest time. But when I re-read the novel many years later, I really appreciated Amy’s naughty spirit and I love the way she likes to stir things up.
“I remember being a kind of bratty child and there’s a lot of that in Amy.”
And while the movie has catapulted Florence to fame, she is set for another role which empowers women later this year – alongside Scarlett Johansson in Marvel blockbuster Black Widow.
