Florence Pugh has opened up about hitting breaking point during a difficult time in her life, revealing that her body began to ‘scream’ at her to slow down.
Speaking to Louis Theroux on The Louis Theroux Podcast, the 28-year-old reflected on a past relationship that left her emotionally and physically exhausted.
Pugh, who has often spoken candidly about the pressure of public scrutiny, admitted she only realised how bad things had got once her body began to react.
‘Because I had a breakdown,’ she told Louis. ‘When you are hurting your body, you know when you are not sleeping or you’re drinking too much or you’ve got the sh**s because you’re so anxious – that’s your body screaming at you.’
The actress went on to describe how she started physically injuring herself without realising it.
‘I found myself injured, I would injure myself,’ she said. ‘I’d be chopping and I’d like, chop huge chunks out of my hands. I’ve just never done that since. My body was just like, in full panic mode. I was injuring myself in order to look after myself, which is a funny thing of my body asking for help.’
Pugh said the experience forced her to recognise how much she’d been ignoring her own needs while trying to stay strong for others.
‘I think when you are such a bubbly person and you fill in a lot of energy for other people, I’m definitely the last person that I look after,’ she said.
‘I felt like there was an expectation that I needed to be good for everybody else. My issues, my worries, my pains weren’t worthy of being spoken about because it would bring people down. Then of course you find yourself in a pit or in a mess.’
The star, who is known for powerful roles in Midsommar, Little Women and Oppenheimer, also reflected on how her work has at times taken a heavy toll.
She recalled pushing herself too far emotionally while filming Midsommar, admitting: ‘It really f****d me up. I’d abused myself and really manipulated my own emotions to get a performance.’
After suffering from depression for months afterwards, Pugh said she has since learned to protect herself more carefully, saying: ‘I just can’t exhaust myself like that because it has a knock-on effect,’ she explained.
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Now, in what she describes as a ‘very good’ relationship, Pugh told Louis she’s in a much healthier place both mentally and emotionally. But she’s not forgotten the lessons that came from those darker times.
‘I think it became increasingly obvious that something wasn’t right,’ she said. ‘But hindsight’s always a funny thing.’
Pugh is currently in a relationship with Peaky Blinders actor Finn Cole, with the pair even rumoured to be engaged. She previously dated Scrubs actor Zach Braff for three years before splitting in 2022.
The Louis Theroux Podcast is available on Spotify now.
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