Florence Pugh won't apologise for her appearance.

Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh

The 'Little Women' actress vowed never to work in Los Angeles again after being "ripped apart" when she was cast in a TV pilot called 'Studio City' alongside Heather Graham and Eric McCormack but she now feels more confident and able to defend herself and what she "represents".

Reflecting on her debut experience working with director Carol Morely on 'The Falling', she said of 'Studio City': "I went from being on this little feature where women were praised for looking the way they were and not knowing or caring about our best angles.

"Suddenly everything I was, everything Carol loved me for -- my looks, who I am as a person -- was getting ripped apart.

"When you go out there [LA] as a baby-face, fresh thing who is eager to please, they will make you into whatever they need to make you sell, essentially.

"You need to know exactly what you are representing when you go into meetings so if someone says, 'That's really cool you don't pluck your eyebrows', that you don't f***ing, like, die and whimper.

"'No I don't want you to cut my hair. No I don't want you to wax my upper lip. I have a face and hair grows out of it. Please leave me alone.' "

After doubting her own ambitions, the 23-year-old star bounced back with the role of Katherine in 'Lady Macbeth' and admitted the fact she was frequently nude for the part helped her confidence.

She explained to ES magazine: "Katherine changed everything. I loved the fact she was naked all the time.

"At that point in my life I had been made to feel s**t about what I looked like and that film was perfect, there was no room for me to feel insecure."


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