Florence Pugh is bravely opening up about the profound emotional impact of her role in Midsommar, confessing, "It really fucked me up." During a recent interview on The Louis Theroux Podcast, the Oscar-nominated actress shared that playing Dani in the Ari Aster-directed film led to a six-month depression after a devastating family tragedy. Her character, joined by her toxic boyfriend on a trip to a remote Swedish commune, ends up having a psychological breakdown after being the target of a cult's manipulation.
"I just can't exhaust myself like that because it has a knock-on effect," she admitted. "I think [Midsommar] made me sad for like six months after and I didn't know why I was depressed. I got back after shooting Little Women, which was such a fun experience and obviously a completely different tone from Midsommar, so I think I shelved all of that. And then when I got home for Christmas, I was so depressed and I was like, 'Oh, I think that's from Midsommar,' and I didn't deal with it and I probably shouldn't do that again."
Pugh explained that she "had never seen that level of grief or mental health in the way that was being asked of me on the page," which led her to fully immerse herself in the "horrible state" of Dani's life. "I really put myself through it," she said. "At the beginning, I just imagined hearing the news that one of my siblings had died, and then towards the middle of the shoot it was like, 'Oh no, I actually needed to imagine the coffins.' And then towards the end of the shoot, I actually was going to my whole family's funeral."
"It wasn't just crying. I needed to sound pained," the Thunderbolts star continued. "I'd never done anything like that before and I was like, 'OK, well here's my opportunity. I need to give this a go.' And I would basically put myself through hell. But I don't do that anymore. It really fucked me up."
Pugh recalled how she initially realized how much playing a distraught character impacted her while on a flight heading to film Greta Gerwig's Little Women after wrapping Midsommar. She recalled breaking down in tears because she felt like she had left Dani "in that field with the film crew just filming her cry."
"My brain was obviously feeling sympathy for myself because I'd abused myself and really manipulated my own emotions to get a performance, but I also then felt sorry for what I'd done," the We Live in Time actress admitted. "It was very, very strange."
