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Florence Pugh ‘all the time had big name high quality’, says former trainer

Florence Pugh ‘all the time had big name high quality’, says former trainer

Ethan Gudge

BBC News, Oxford

Getty Images Florence Pugh attends the "Thunderbolts*" UK Special Screening at Cineworld Leicester Square on April 22, 2025 in London, England. She has slicked back blonde hair and is wearing a black dress.Getty Images

Florence Pugh is now considered one of Hollywood’s greatest stars

Florence Pugh has rapid turn out to be considered one of Hollywood’s greatest names – however prior to the brilliant lighting fixtures of Los Angeles got here calling, it was once some of the rolling hills and dreaming spires of Oxfordshire that her big name started to burn.

Claire Hooper – who taught a tender Pugh for “about two or three years” at Cokethorpe School, in Witney, all the way through the early noughties – mentioned the actress “always had star quality”.

She spoke to the BBC forward of her former pupil’s newest free up, Marvel’s Thunderbolts*.

The movie sees Pugh go back to her position as murderer Yelena Belova, with the nature teaming up with different antiheroes – together with the ones performed through Sebastian Stan and David Harbour – to embark on a perilous undertaking.

Ms Hooper mentioned Pugh was once destined for the large display: “It was quite extraordinary for somebody of her age – it wasn’t like watching a little child on the stage.”

Disney The Thunderbolts crew stood in a lift.Disney

Pugh stars as murderer Yelena Belova in Thunderbolts* this is launched in the United Kingdom on 1 May

Reviews for Thunderbolts* have now not but been broadly printed, however responses to early screenings were sure – with Pugh specifically being highlighted for reward.

The 29-year-old has known as the movie the “movie we all need right now”.

“I think we need to understand mental health a bit more and I think we need to understand that everyone is battling with their own demons – and this is a movie that certainly tackles that,” she instructed journalists on the movie’s London premier on Tuesday.

Her efficiency has been known as “superb” and labelled the one who “shines the brightest” some of the forged through some critics.

It’s one thing that does not wonder Ms Hooper: “I cast her in what was probably her first ever public performance – as Mary in the school nativity play.

“She simply had an awesome talent at a tender age to fully include a personality and type of let herself pass.”

Ms Hooper, who has taught at Cokethorpe for 24 years, said Pugh performed the nativity in a Yorkshire accent: “I’m now not positive the place that got here from on the time, however she was once simply sensible.”

She said her former pupil – who she affectionately referred to as “Floss” – “always had star quality”.

Getty Images Florence Pugh stands alongside director Carol Morley and Maisie Williams. She is wearing a black jumpsuit with a slit front. Her hair is tied up. She is standing on a red carpet and looking directly at the camera.Getty Images

Florence Pugh’s (right) first London red carpet was for 2014’s The Falling where she starred alongside Maisie Williams

The superhero blockbuster is a far cry from her first big-screen role in Carol Morley’s 2014 film The Falling, that was filmed at Carmel College in Wallingford.

Starring alongside Maisie Williams, 17-year-old Pugh was still in the sixth form at St Edward’s School in Oxford when she was cast.

Pugh was born and grew up in the city alongside three siblings – including the actor and singer Toby Sebastian, who played Trystane Martell in the HBO series Game of Thrones.

In 2015 she spoke to BBC Radio Oxford’s Kat Orman about her break-out role and growing up in the city.

Her father, Clinton Pugh, is widely known for his eating places – and extra just lately for his grievance of Oxford’s site visitors filters.

Ms Hooper said Pugh grew up in a “ingenious, actually excellent and a laugh circle of relatives”, adding that she and her siblings were “all simply extremely proficient, beautiful people”.

“They had been actually, actually particular youngsters.”

Reuters Cast members Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh and Matt Damon attend a photo call for "Oppenheimer" in London.Reuters

Pugh starred alongside Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon in Oscar winning Oppenheimer

Anna Smith, film critic and host of the podcast Girls On Film, said Pugh was a “proficient, flexible actress who makes good alternatives” who was now a “giant big name”.

Since her first film more than a decade ago, Pugh has gone on to star in movies such as Midsommar, Don’t Worry Darling and the Oscar award winning films Oppenheimer and Dune: Part Two.

In 2020, she herself earned an Academy Award nomination for her supporting turn as Amy March in Greta Gerwig’s adaption of Little Women – although she lost out on the night to Marriage Story’s Laura Dern.

Sony Florence Pugh and Timothee Chalamet in Little Women.Sony

She earned an Oscar nomination for her role as Amy March in Little Women

“Audiences appear to answer her authenticity – whilst she’s very flexible, I believe she brings a heat and wit to lots of her roles that individuals can relate to. It’s now not overly ‘Hollywood’,” Ms Smith, who first met Pugh when the actress was 16, said.

She made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in 2021, starring alongside Scarlett Johannsen’s Black Widow, in what was her first appearance as Yelena Belova.

Following Thunderbolts*, she is set to return as the character in Avengers: Doomsday alongside Marvel stalwarts Robert Downey Jr and Chris Hemsworth.

“Florence combines relatability with ability and big name energy, and she or he appeals to all kinds of audiences because of balancing superhero films and sci-fi with considerate dramas,” Ms Smith mentioned.

She added: “I do not believe it is going to be too lengthy prior to she lands her first Oscar.”

Getty Images Florence Pugh stands in a large group of family members at the London premiere of Thunderbolt's. She is smiling and wearing a black dress. Her grandmother Pat is standing in front of her wearing a white suit.Getty Images

Florence Pugh was joined by her family on the black carpet at the Thunderbolts* premiere

Pugh stays just about her circle of relatives, freeing a tune along with her brother all the way through lockdown in 2021.

The Pugh family joined her at the premiere of Thunderbolts* in London and her grandmother, Pat Mackin, regularly attends her celebrity events.

Talking on the red carpet, Pugh said: “I do not ever wish to be stuck out for one thing that I’m now not, and I believe that is all the time been the essence of why I’ve all the time been giant mouthed, why I’ve all the time been opinionated and why I’ve all the time worn the issues I wish to put on.

“I would much rather know that everything I’ve done is 100% me than have to apologise for something that was half me later.”

Despite her stardom, Ms Hooper mentioned she nonetheless noticed “Floss” as “that tiny child with really striking and incredible vocal quality, and the ability just to become a different person”.

“I can’t take any credit whatsoever for her success, but I’m incredibly proud of what she’s done – she’s just got extraordinary talent,” Ms Hooper added.


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