Backstage With… Florence Pugh and Zach Braff on their new film A Good Person
Florence Pugh says the idea to cut off her hair for her latest film was inspired by her own way of dealing with mental health issues when she was younger.
In A Good Person the star plays a woman who becomes addicted to painkillers following a tragedy.
While struggling with what she’s going through, her character Allison cuts her hair and Pugh told Sky News’ film and TV podcast Backstage that the idea to do that came from her own lived experience.
“I think we have this awful nature, well, I do sometimes, that when things are going wrong, I just, like, chop bits of myself off, and that idea actually came from me when I was younger,” she explained.
“I was just going through that classic teenage bout of depression where you’re not quite sure that you’re depressed, so I just bought random things and tried to quick fix myself, like just to buy things that would stick on me and maybe I’d feel better.
“And so that was an idea that I was saying, ‘Well, what if she just chops off a piece of her for no reason other than just trying to fix something?’ And then what that did is it made this whole character not care anymore and have hair that is ridiculous, and I loved that.
“I always love stepping into a role where I don’t have to care about being camera beautiful or anything like that, I love not being able to have to think about that.”
Florence Pugh stars in A Good Person. Pic: Sky Cinema
While Pugh’s character is an addict, she’s also likeable and relatable – with the film steering clear from a stereotypical portrayal of a drug user.
The actress says it was important – though not easy – for her to get the part right.
“I think we forget that just because someone is in this awful space doesn’t mean that they’re still not charming or they’re still not able to make you love them or make you want to help them – that is the hardest thing about being in that situation.
“We spoke to many people that helped us, helped paint an idea of what it is to be like at that low and how far you have to get and how far you have to go to actually realise you need help.
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“I think having all of those amazing characters around her, desperately trying to help her, make it real, make it harder, make it unbelievable that she can’t kick it – and then that also helps me be able to kind of figure out an arc of how do I pull this all the way through?
“That she has to still be likeable and frustratingly stubborn. And why do we still want her to get better even after she’s done all that she’s done, and that was tricky.
“Of course, it’s so hard doing something like this because you never want to offend anyone, you don’t want to hurt anyone, you want to get it right – you end up battering yourself a little bit as well – but I’m really proud of it, I’m really proud of this work.”
The film was written for Pugh by her former partner Zach Braff – who also directs – who she dated for three years.
She admits that it might have been hard to suggest changes or push back if they didn’t have the history that they do.
“I’m sure it would be if it was maybe someone that didn’t know me so well and I didn’t know them so well.
Zach Braff, (2nd L) directed the film. Pic: Sky Cinema
“There were things in the original script that I’d be like, ‘I don’t think it would…’ or ‘That, I’d find a bit hard to say’ or ‘Do you mind if I give a stab at this?’ and [Braff] was completely cool with that and I think because he does know me so well and knows how I perform and knows what he wanted from me as a performer it meant that I could also then ask the same of him, and that was an amazing experience to have.
“It was very free for everybody on set, not just me – he wrote the film for me, but every actor and every character had the ability to show up on the day they were working and mean something, and if they needed to change something, they’re more than welcome to bring it to light.”
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A Good Person is Braff’s third film as writer-director, following 2004’s Garden State and 2014’s Wish I Was Here.
He told Sky News’ Backstage Podcast he would like to do more – but it’s not as simple as just wanting to.
“It’s very hard for me to write a script, they don’t come easily to me.
“I wish I could be more prolific, but I have to let inspiration strike, so it’s hard.
“But this came to me during the pandemic and certainly during the lockdown I had the time and I had no excuse – I ran out of excuses during lockdown, the universe locked us all in our houses and I had no choice.”
The film looks at tragedy, grief and how people respond to trauma and Braff has been open about it being inspired by his own experiences – including losing a good friend to COVID-19.
He acknowledges it’s exposing to pour himself in to the film.
Pic: Sky Cinema
“What’s more vulnerable than writing an original screenplay and saying, ‘This is the pain that I’ve had, these are my wounds, basically’, but I think that’s what hopefully good art is, in any form – an artist having the courage to be vulnerable for an audience.
“I think that’s certainly what one does as an actor every day that they’re working.”
The loss of his friend to COVID and the lockdown giving Braff the time and space to write are just two ways in which the pandemic impacted the film.
While A Good Person focuses on one character’s recovery, Braff says it’s really looking at how we’ve all coped the past few years.
“I think that one of the things that people might see in this film is that it’s also in the macro about recovering.
“I mean, the film’s about recovering from tragedy and trauma, and I think if you zoom out, I hope that audiences will see it’s also about recovering from that experience that we all went through – this insane pandemic that I don’t think we can all even process just yet.
“We’re just moving on but not really looking at the whole thing, and I think there’s also that – it’s about coming out of this horrible time.”
A Good Person, which also stars Morgan Freeman, is out now on Sky Cinema.
Hear our review on the latest episode of Backstage – the film and TV podcast from Sky News.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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