Florence Pugh convinced she was ‘gonna die' every time she filmed ‘Thunderbolts' jump scene: ‘Well, you f—ked it'

New York Post

01-05-2025

Thank goodness she didn't.
Florence Pugh was convinced that she was 'gonna die' while filming an 'insane' jump scene for Marvel's newest blockbuster.
The 29-year-old actress, who has reprised her 'Black Widow' role as Yelena Belova for 'Thunderbolts*,' opened up about the scary stunt on Thursday, May 1, in this month's Who What Wear cover story.
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'The moment I jumped, every time, my brain went, 'Oh, well, you f–ked it. You're gonna die,'' Pugh said of jumping off the 2,227-foot Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, which is the second-tallest building in the world.
9 Florence Pugh was convinced that she was 'gonna die' while filming an 'insane' jump scene for Marvel's newest blockbuster.
Marvel Entertainment
9 'The moment I jumped, every time, my brain went, 'Oh, well, you f—ed it. You're gonna die,'' Pugh said of jumping off the 2,227-foot Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, which is the second-tallest building in the world.
Marvel Entertainment
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Even more shocking was that Pugh, who has also portrayed Yelena Belova in the Marvel series 'Hawkeye' on Disney+, filmed the jump nine times over two days.
'I could persuade myself to do that. I could fall down the mountain,' Pugh explained regarding how she was able to do the stunt nine separate times. 'I was like, 'That's not a good trick to have. Oops.''
'I can basically pretend to myself not to listen to my instincts,' she added.
The 'Midsommar' actress also revealed that while she didn't actually jump 2,227 feet off the Merdeka 118, she did jump around six feet off the building and was dangled by a harness over the Malaysian city before the crew pulled her back up to safety.
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9 'I could persuade myself to do that. I could fall down the mountain,' Pugh explained regarding how she was able to do the stunt nine separate times. 'I was like, 'That's not a good trick to have. Oops.''
Marvel Entertainment
9 'I can basically pretend to myself not to listen to my instincts,' she added.
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
9 The 'Midsommar' actress also revealed that while she didn't actually jump 2,227 feet off the Merdeka 118, she did jump around six feet off the building and dangle by a harness over the Malaysian city before the crew pulled her back up to safety.
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
While Pugh described the feat as 'insane' and 'mad,' she also admitted that she 'loved' doing it.
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'Loved it,' she told Who What Wear on Thursday. 'Mad, though. Mad.'
Elsewhere in her new interview, the 'Thunderbolts*' actress opened up about the struggle of accepting herself in the face of Hollywood's challenging beauty standards – especially when posing for magazine shoots as part of promoting her films.
'You don't know how it works. You feel so self-conscious in the clothes,' the 'Don't Worry Darling' starlet said regarding the beginning of her career. 'You feel like you're not doing them justice. You're not doing what a model is going to be able to do.'
9 The 29-year-old actress, who has reprised her 'Black Widow' role as Yelena Belova for 'Thunderbolts*,' opened up about the surprising stunt on Thursday, May 1, during this month's Who What Wear cover story.
Greg Swales
9 Elsewhere in her new interview, the 'Thunderbolts*' actress opened up about the struggle of accepting herself in the face of Hollywood's challenging beauty standards – especially when posing for magazine shoots as part of promoting her films.
Greg Swales
9 'You don't know how it works. You feel so self-conscious in the clothes,' the 'Don't Worry Darling' starlet said regarding the beginning of her career. 'You feel like you're not doing them justice. You're not doing what a model is going to be able to do.'
Greg Swales for Who What Wear
However, Pugh admitted that she has gotten 'more confident' about the modeling aspects that come with being a young female movie star.
'Once you do, you know, shoot after shoot after shoot, you get better, and you get more confidence,' she explained. 'You see the pictures, and you see the work, and you're like, 'Okay, that looks great. I'm going to now make sure that I know how to argue when a certain piece of clothing isn't working.''
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'It's so exposing because it's you being beautiful,' Pugh added, 'which is like everybody's inner hell.'
9 Pugh admitted that she has gotten 'more confident' about the modeling aspects that come with being a young female movie star.
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As for her career after 'Thunderbolts*' — which hits theaters on Friday — the 'We Live in Time' star said she hopes to pursue a Western role with 'mountain fluff on my face.'
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'I want to just be like a really greasy, gritty head,' Pugh declared. 'I want to have, like, mountain fluff on my face – like an earth person, a person from the earth.'
She also wants to begin writing and directing her own projects. 'I think my writing, directing era is probably getting closer and closer,' she concluded.