Thunderbolts* star Florence Pugh criticises red carpet expectations for actresses - 'they don't model!'

Perth Now

01-05-2025

Florence Pugh says it's unfair that actresses are expected to look like models on the red carpet.
The 'Thunderbolts*' star has questioned why there is pressure on actresses to "go beyond" their natural talent and be runway models at film premieres and awards shows.
In an interview with website Who What Wear, she said: "It's so s***.
'It's not the same thing. It's not the same thing at all. I had this conversation recently with a friend … It's just mental that red carpets are even an expectancy of someone that is not ... That's not even their job .… They don't model. They are good at being on a camera that is this close with that face, and they know how to show how raw their soul is on the flick of a switch. That's their talent. Their talent isn't anything beyond that.
"I mean, it might be, but that's what they're getting paid to do, and that's what we recognise them for.
"And you're supposed to be able to be like a runway model, and you're compared against runway models.'
Florence - who is a diminutive 5'4" - insists modelling is a big contrast to being an actor or actress because of how "exposing" it is as a profession.
She explained: "It's so exposing because it's you being beautiful, which is like everybody's inner hell."
The 29-year-old star recalled feeling "so self-conscious in the clothes" she was asked to pose in during magazine photoshoots to promote her films.
She admitted: "You don't know how it works. You feel so self-conscious in the clothes. You feel like you're not doing them justice. You're not doing what a model is going to be able to do."
Florence felt embarrassed when she first began to do photoshoots, but after time, she became more confident, which allowed her to "argue when a certain piece of clothing isn't working".
The 'Don't Worry Darling' actress said: "Once you do, you know, shoot after shoot after shoot, you get better, and you get more confidence," she says. "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 ...
"If I'm disappointed about how something turned out or looked or if someone's saying something nasty about the dress that I was wearing or if I was a bit too heavy for the dress or a bit too this or that or whatever shit someone wanted to say to me, I have to be like, 'Babe, this is not even why you're… This is not your job.'"