Dune: Part Three star Florence Pugh has lost patience with disrespectful co-workers.
Pugh made her MCU debut as Natasha Romanoff's (Scarlett Johansson) adoptive sister Yelena Belova in the Black Widow movie, before going on to reprise the role in the Hawkeye Disney+ series, Thunderbolts*, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
As the new Black Widow, Pugh will have a main role in Avengers: Doomsday as the leader of the "New Avengers," and the highly in-demand actress is also set to return as Princess Irulan in Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Three.
Pugh is clearly aware that she is now in a position where she no longer has to suffer fools on her film sets.
“Every time I work on a movie, I get more confident in the way that I can protect myself and the way that I can lead a film set, and just not stand for bullshit anymore," she tells Elle Magazine. "I’m not doing it. I’m not standing for bullshit behavior. I’m not standing for bullshit attitude. I’m not allowing for people to be rude to the crew. You just get bolder and bigger and more confident with time, and you want to be around and work with the right people. And the moment someone is making that vibe feel off, everybody feels it.”
“I don’t want to deal with messy,” she added. “It’s just about surrounding yourself with professionals who have the same way of working in mind: Show up on time, don’t be rude, don’t be a misogynist.”
Though Pugh may not necessarily be referring to any one film set or individual here, there are rumors that she was one of the actors involved in an on-set tiff with a co-star while filming Doomsday (more here). She is also said to have had a falling out with her Don't Worry Darling director, Olivia Wilde.
Pugh was also asked about her recent Instagram post publicly condemning the Cornell 7, the name given online to the seven male students accused of drugging and gang raping their female classmate at Cornell University in October 2024. Instagram removed her initial post, which did not sit well with the actress.
“No one f*cking censors me. That’s just going to add fuel to the fire... I’m a woman who cares about women. I care about women I know, and I care about women I don’t know. And if we allow for stories like that to become in any way normal, then we are allowing ourselves to continue toward that destiny of abuse and rape being accepted as a norm. Rape can never ever be a conversation that we move on from. It has to be something that we look at, face-on, and we demand justice, accountability, and for the rapist to see what they have done to someone’s life. Because if we don’t, we’re accepting it. And I don’t ever, ever, ever want to live in a world where we move on from it easily.”
Finally, Pugh recommended how cinemagoers should approach next month's "Dunesday."
“Do Dune first, go have some lunch & process that, maybe have the night off to talk about it. Following day, do Avengers: Doomsday... or in the evening.”
Will you be taking her advice?
Dune: Part Three is set nearly two decades after Paul Atreides seized control of the Imperium. Now a ruthless Emperor, Paul must face the consequences of his reign as old allies return, terrifying new threats emerge, and betrayal lurks in every shadow. Haunted by visions of Imperial collapse and the reappearance of his long-lost love, Paul is drawn into a sweeping conspiracy, with Chani at the heart of its unfolding mystery. As enemies close in, Paul must confront the true cost of power and the fate of those he loves the most.
The film stars Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Isaach de Bankolé, with Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling, with Anya Taylor-Joy, and Robert Pattinson, and Oscar winner Javier Bardem.
Villeneuve directs from a screenplay by Villeneuve and Brian K. Vaughan, based on the novels written by Frank Herbert. The film is produced by Oscar nominees Mary Parent, Tanya Lapointe, Villeneuve, Cale Boyter and Joe Caracciolo, Jr., and executive produced by Joshua Grode, Thomas Tull, Herbert W. Gains, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, Richard P. Rubinstein, John Harrison and Jessica Derhammer.