Black Widow director Cate Shortland revealed why Florence Pugh was her first choice to play Yelena Belova.
Marvel Studios’ highly-anticipated Black Widow movie finally hit theaters and Disney Plus through Premier Access this weekend, and fans have been excited to return to the movies for the newest chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One particular standout from the film amongst critics and fans alike is the introduction of Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova.
Yelena Belova is introduced in the film as a younger sister figure to Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson). The two reunite in the film after many years and embark on an adventure together that reveals more about their lives and how their makeshift family that includes Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) formed who they became.
In an interview with THR, Cate Shortland revealed why Florence Pugh was the right actress to bring Yelena Belova to life:
“The first time I met Kevin, Victoria [Alonso] and Lou [D’Esposito], they asked me who I’d like to work with if I was to do the film. I hadn’t read any scripts or anything; it was just, ‘Which actors are you excited by?’ And Florence was the first person I mentioned. I’d seen Lady Macbeth a couple of times, and I really wanted to work with her. And then I met her in London with Brian Chapek, my producer, and we just got on really well.
By putting her with Scarlett, I knew that Scarlett would have someone on screen with her that could match her energy.”
Cate Shortland was caught by surprise when she learned that Florence Pugh had a dancing background, which brought a lot to the fight choreography for Yelena Belova:
“But what we didn’t know at that stage was that Florence had been a dancer. So it made the fight sequences so much more dynamic because she can handle the choreography. And when they were fighting in the apartment, you’ve got this really balletic, athletic stuff happening between the two of them because of Florence’s experience with dance.”
Do you agree that Academy Award-nominee Florence Pugh was perfect to play Yelena Belova in Black Widow? Sound off in the comments below.
Here is the synopsis for Black Widow:
In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller “Black Widow,” Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Directed by Cate Shortland from a script written by Eric Pearson based on a story by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson, the Marvel film stars Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Ray Winstone, Olivier Richters, and Rachel Weisz.
Black Widow is out now in theaters and Disney Plus via Premier Access. Stay tuned for all the latest news on the film, and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
Source: THR
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