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Black Widow star Florence Pugh says she was encouraged to lean into Yelena Belova’s idiosyncrasies and make the character her own.
When it came time to bring Yelena Belova to life, Black Widow star Florence Pugh was actively encouraged to make the character her own.
At a press conference attended by CBR and other outlets, Pugh was asked about her approach to the character of Yelena, another Red Room trainee who has a complicated history with Natasha Romanoff. “Well, I think from the get-go, in the script it was very obvious that they have this connection and they have this relationship. Ultimately, despite her skillset, she is that wonderfully annoying younger sister that says all the right things [at] all the wrong times,” Pugh said. “So that wasn’t hard at all for me to get into that.”
The dysfunctional family dynamic is a core part of Black Widow, and Yelena certainly has a different connection to it than Natasha. And as someone who spent longer in the Red Room, she also takes a different approach to striking out on her own — which is something director Cate Shortland encouraged Pugh to explore.
“I think something that I really appreciated was Cate was so welcoming of me to figure out how she thinks and how she moves and what she wears,” Pugh said. “I think, for me, that was such a fun part of figuring out this character because she really comes out of the Red Room and can start life, and she can buy her own clothes, and she can buy a vest that has lots of pockets and she’s really excited by it.”
While Black Widow’s Infinity War vest is given its own backstory in the film, it speaks more to Yelena as a character who finally has agency. And it shows how different she is from Natasha, as she starts off Black Widow full of doubt. It was those differences that allowed Pugh to fully develop that character.
“I think Cate really encouraged me to find the oddities of her and lean on that. So much so that, in the end tag scene, you can see that she’s flourishing; she’s becoming her own being,” Pugh continued. “I think also being welcomed into it with Scarlett [Johansson], equally being as giving as she was, I really found it such a wonderful and creative space. And just to have fun! I think that was the overall thing. You know, these two sisters have so much fun together, and amongst all of the pain they’ve shared.”
In theaters and on Dinsey+ Premier Access, Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh as two of the many titular assassins who graduate from the Red Room. Pugh will reprise her role as Yelena on Hawkeye later this year.
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