Florence Pugh: It would be weird to be in a Nancy Meyers type of movie

Florence Pugh has a checklist when choosing roles: it has to be intense and the character has to cry…very.

“It’s no secret that I only choose very intense roles,” Pugh said at the premiere of Zach Braff’s “A Good Man,” in which he plays an opioid addict grieving after a fatal car accident. Species). “It’s not the first time that I’ve cried in almost every single scene. I like to find the ugliness in people. I love being raw. I like to be given a script that challenges me, and I’ve never taken a role unless I was scared of it.”

Pugh added of writer-director Braff, with whom she was romantically involved for years before making the film, “And this is someone who knew me, knew my potential, and wanted to work with me. I think it would have been weird if she wrote me a Nancy Meyers thing like “So… you won’t cry in this movie”. I would say “Oh my God!”

The “Oppenheimer” actress continued about Braff, knowing his darker tendencies on screen: “I wouldn’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. I think if anything it means that he was able to believe that I could do it.”

Pugh also produced “A Good Person,” which stars Morgan Freeman, Molly Shannon, Celeste O’Connor, Zoe Lister-Jones and Chinaza Uche. The film was shot in Braff’s hometown of New Jersey.

“When we moved to the city, Florence felt like she was in a Nancy Meyers movie,” Braff said, adding that the project was “incredibly emotional for Florence” because of the intense subject matter.

“I wanted to write something for Florence, and somehow this came out of me,” said the “Garden State” filmmaker. “I am in awe of his talent. It’s like when you’re with the most incredible violinist in the world and you’re writing a piece for him, you’re not writing something simple. You’re going to write something that resonates with everyone because you know they can.”

While Pugh’s upcoming roles clearly don’t include a Nancy Meyers movie, the rom-com director recently headlined Netflix’s “Paris Paramount,” which is said to have a budget of $130 million to $150 million. Netflix declined to comment on the production, which will star Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Owen Wilson and Michael Fassbender. The film marks Meyers’ return to Hollywood since 2015’s “The Intern,” with Meyers confirmed to write, produce and direct the “semi-autobiographical rom-com.” Puck.

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