Florence Pugh has revealed that she had the idea for one of the most poignant scenes in her new film We Live In Time.
The Oscar nominee shares the screen with Andrew Garfield in the emotional new romance movie, which charts the highs and lows of one couple over a number of years.
We Live In Time was filmed in 2023, with Florence shaving her head for scenes in which her character undergoes treatment for cancer.
“If I couldn’t have shaved my head I wouldn’t have accepted this movie,” she told the podcast Reign With Josh Smith. “I think it is so important to do it.”
Florence continued: “If you’re lending yourself to a story like this, if you’re lending yourself to a cancer story like this, I couldn’t have not done it.”
One scene in the film sees Florence’s character shaving her head with her husband and daughter present, before collecting her shorn locks.
“The scene was always a very beautiful scene,” the Midsommar star claimed. “This couple were making it a beautiful act that their daughter could remember and it didn’t have to be a sad thing. The sun was gonna come out. They were gonna take a chair outside. They were gonna have a biscuit and a tea and they were all going to shave Mummy’s hair and they were gonna collect it.”
Florence noted that collecting the hair at the end of the scene was, in fact, her suggestion, as she had wanted to keep her own hair when it was shaved.
“I’ve cut my hair a few times and I always feel really sad when I haven’t taken it with me,” she explained.
“The whole day was magical. I really wasn’t scared or intimidated by it. Andrew was obviously slightly intimidated because he was worried about messing it up – I said to him, ‘we’re going to shave my head, that’s what it’s going to be and it’s going to be a beautiful moment’. It was such a special day… I’ve still got [the box of hair].”
After debuting her new buzzcut at the 2023 Met Gala, Florence claimed: “I purposefully chose to look like that. I wanted vanity out of the picture.
“Hollywood is very glamorous – especially for women – and it’s hard for an audience to see past that. Whenever I’ve not needed to be glam or have a full face of makeup, I fight to keep it that way. It helps the audience.”
Listen to Florence Pugh’s full interview on Reign With Josh Smith. We Live In Time is in cinemas now.