Florence Pugh Reveals Which Horror Movie Led to “Six Months of Depression”

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Florence Pugh has built an impressive career with roles in many different types of movies, and she’s particularly strong in horror. However, despite her excellent performance as Dani Ardor in Midsommar, making the film was a difficult experience for her. She previously described the role as emotionally damaging, and now she’s revealed she struggled with depression for a while after filming Ari Aster’s 2019 horror movie.

I was listening to Florence Pugh on the Louis Theroux Podcast, and she talked about how incredibly difficult making Midsommar was for her. She plays a woman dealing with a huge loss who travels to Sweden with her boyfriend, and things get…intense during this midsummer festival. Apparently, getting into that headspace really stuck with her. She said she dealt with about six months of depression after filming, which just shows how much of an emotional toll that role took on her.

I’ve learned I can’t push myself to the point of exhaustion because it really affects my mental health. After filming Midsommar, I felt down for about six months without realizing why. Working on Little Women afterwards was a much more positive experience, and I think I subconsciously pushed those difficult feelings aside. But when I returned home for the holidays, I felt deeply depressed and realized it was a delayed reaction to Midsommar. I didn’t address those feelings at the time, and I probably should in the future.

Ari Aster’s ‘Midsommar’ Is a Terrifying Portrait of Grief and the Seductive Opportunity To Start All Over Again


A24

Ari Aster’s Midsommar really gets under your skin from the very beginning. It opens with a truly devastating loss for our main character, Dani – her sister experiences a horrific tragedy, and Dani is left reeling. What follows is tough to watch; her relationship with her boyfriend, Christian, feels incredibly strained and he’s just… not there for her emotionally. Then, things take a really weird turn when she ends up joining him and his friends on a trip, and let me tell you, their destination is hiding something deeply unsettling.

The film follows Dani’s journey of transformation, as she moves from being deeply heartbroken and trapped in a toxic relationship to experiencing a spiritual awakening. However, this healing process isn’t without its costs. Florence Pugh discussed the challenges of filming the movie’s most emotionally intense moments.

I hadn’t previously dealt with such intense grief or emotional challenges in a role. To prepare, I really immersed myself in the character’s pain. Initially, I thought about the shock of losing a sibling, but as filming went on, I had to visualize more difficult scenes, like the actual funeral. By the end of the shoot, it felt like I was attending the funerals of my own family.

It wasn’t simply sadness; I really had to sound like I was hurting. I’d never pretended to be in that much pain before, so I saw it as a challenge. I pushed myself to really feel the emotion, which was incredibly difficult. I don’t do that anymore, though. It ended up being very damaging to me.

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2025-11-12 20:50