"I purposefully chose to look like that": Florence Pugh defends her choice to shave head in interview

Florence Pugh’s buzz cut at the 2023 Met Gala red carpet was the most talked about look of the event. Pugh decided to shave her hair after keeping a bob for most of 2022, and the drastic change of style took the internet by storm as netizens started speculating the reason behind the actress’s bold choice.

Nipping all theories and speculations in the bud, the Oppenheimer starrer cleared the air herself while sitting for an interview with Radio Times, as reported by the Daily Mail on July 18, 2023.

“I purposefully chose to look like that. I wanted vanity out of the picture,” Florence admitted.

A closer look at the English actress’s decision to shave her head reveals a critical mind at work who chose to make the bold decision to chop off her locks as a statement and a testimony to what she believes in.

For Pugh, the hair stands as a symbol of “vanity,” and her buzz cut shows that she’s not afraid to be stripped of the pomp and pretentiousness that vanity entails.

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Florence Pugh talks about the pressure of maintaining a glamorous image in Hollywood

Florence Pugh is all about keeping it real for the audience. In the interview, she spoke about how Hollywood sets impossible standards for women through a constantly glamourized projection of women.

“Hollywood is very glamorous — especially for women — and it's hard for an audience to see past that,” Pugh remarked.

She further proceeded to drive home her point,

“Whenever I've not needed to be glam or have a full face of makeup, I fight to keep it that way. It helps the audience."

The Midsommar hitmaker’s words would appeal to the masses given the extremely high, impossible, and unrealistic standards that Hollywood sets for women.

"Vanity is gone. The only thing that people can look at then is your raw face."

The Black Widow starrer also revealed how she used to be extremely insecure about her own image at the beginning of her career. She said that she was always “fighting” to “control” her image and that wearing less or absolutely no makeup when it is not necessary helps her to feel more comfortable in her own skin.

Florence Pugh said,

“It helps me when I'm wearing less makeup because then I'm less of a sparkly thing on screen. I feel like I'm allowed to do ugly faces, like it's more acceptable.”

Taking off her makeup and dressing down makes the actress feel more like a normal person and less like a “sparkly thing,” which allows her to feel more at ease with herself.

Florence Pugh’s most controversial look thus became her most powerful statement about some of the unpleasant but hard-hitting truths about Hollywood’s portrayal of women and how it negatively impacts several young women's body image.

The 27-year-old British actress made headlines with her performance as Jean Tatlock, Oppenheimer’s mistress, in the biopic alongside Cillian Murphy. Florence Pugh is set to star alongside Oscar-nominated actor Andrew Garfield in an upcoming romance film titled We Live in Time.