Florence Pugh reveals she ‘can’t do’ roles like ‘Midsommar’ again because ‘I definitely felt like I abused myself’

nypost.com:

horror film “Midsommar,” but revealed that the project was so emotionally taxing that she doesn’t think she could do something like that again.The role of Dani required Pugh to go to dark places, as her character finds herself trapped by a Swedish cult while traveling with a group after enduring a tragedy in her life.“How have you learned to look after yourself and your mental well-being [while working]?” Josh Smith asked the Oscar nominee during an episode of his “Reign” podcast.“Gosh, that’s a good question — I’m still figuring it out,” Pugh replied. “I don’t think I’d be able to do this without going there all the way and putting myself in all of those characters that I’ve played.

There’s always a piece of me.”Sharing her point of view after playing any of her characters, the English actress explained: “There’s always a moment at the end of filming where I, like, protect and defend those characters until the very end, even if they’ve done god-awful things.

I think that’s only natural when you’re in someone for so long.”Pugh said “protecting” herself is something she’s had to “learn how to do” over the years. “There have been some roles where I’ve given too much and I’ve been broken for a long while afterwards,” she explained. “Like when I did ‘Midsommar,’ I definitely felt like I abused myself in the places that I got myself to go.“I mean, the nature of figuring these things out is you need to go, ‘All right, well, I can’t do that again cause that was too much,'” Pugh continued. “But then I look at that performance and I’m really proud of what I did, and I’m proud of what came out of me.

I don’t regret it.“But, yeah,” she noted, “there’s definitely things that you have to respect about yourself …”Pugh initially spoke.