Breakthrough alum Florence Pugh on finding your voice

Actress Florence Pugh has made a name for herself as a confident performer who isn’t afraid to take on a wide range of different roles. Over the years she has embraced everything from period dramas like Breakthrough project Lady Macbeth, to joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Black Widow and Thunderbolts*, and now her latest project sees her take on the role of Cathy from John Steinbeck’s famous novel East of Eden.

So how does Pugh go about tackling such diverse characters and what advice would she give to new talent coming into the industry? Speaking at a panel at BAFTA 195 the 2016 BAFTA Breakthrough alum, highlighted the importance of finding your own voice, acknowledging how far you’ve come, and trusting your own process when becoming your characters…

Since being named a BAFTA Breakthrough in 2016 Pugh has had to get used to being in the spotlight. Two of the main things that she has learnt from this experience, and highlights to other emerging talent, is the importance of finding your own voice and taking time to stop and acknowledge your achievements.

She reflects: “The sooner you find your voice, the sooner you find your stability and the sooner that you understand your worth the bigger you can become…. I think for years you’re constantly so unsure about what you’re getting right, and if you’re getting things right. Having moments like being awarded this moment of BAFTA Breakthrough you have to let yourself feel it… that is your moment of recognition, your moment of patting on the back.

“That’s why things like Breakthrough are so important, it’s because everybody is desperately trying to find their footing, everybody is desperately trying to figure out if they’re doing it right. That’s why it’s so important having these acknowledgements… without that you don’t necessarily always know if you’re going in the right direction.”

Pugh, who as well as starring in East of Eden is also the series’ executive producer, is keen to highlight how believing in your vision pays off too. Revealing this project has been years in the making she says: “I can’t believe we’ve made this, it’s taken six years to make this. This is our baby we’ve literally put our blood sweat and tears, so many tears into this – I have to remind myself that without the work and the decisions that we made six years ago we would not be here. We have to acknowledge that.”

• The new cohort for the 2026 BAFTA Breakthrough UK programme, supported by Netflix, will be announced in early November.

Admitting when it comes to the role of East of Eden’s Cathy “it’s been the character of my career that’s been the hardest to unpick but the most delicious to feel success in”, Pugh reflects on the process she went through to bring the character to life.

She shares that her process to “unlock” the character involved her undergoing a process of unravelling that started prior to filming and continued throughout. It was a process that saw the actress take inspiration from visual representation, particularly from a photography book she discovered which captured intimate glimpses of prostitutes at the time. She says: “Having this book of all of these girls ranging in ages just for me to see visually what their bodies were like and how their feet were bruised, where they had sores on their tummy from their corsets… it just fed me so much. And through finding out these, you know, really big, pieces of information about how hard it was for a woman to live then, let alone a working woman, [it] really did help me understand what kind of world we were trying to tackle… Just like knowing I was going to get to know that character the more and more that I play her, that’s the beauty of doing what we do. You jump in, say yes, and then you just keep on finding these nuggets of information.”

Describing the wider process, Pugh adds: “Following her [Cathy’s] storyline and her arc was quite simple when reading it. I knew exactly what I needed to do and when to do it. The thing that then followed was I had to understand it for it to be an authentic performance and for it to make sense. And I’m a performer that can’t fake it, I really want everything that you see to feel as real as possible, for it to look as real as possible and that’s why hopefully in the performances that you’ve seen me do they feel human.”

• The new cohort for the 2026 BAFTA Breakthrough UK programme, supported by Netflix, will be announced in early November.

At BAFTA we are committed to supporting creative Film, Games and TV talent and one way we do this is through our Learning, Inclusion and Talent programmes. Florence Pugh was a member of BAFTA’s 2016 Breakthrough cohort (called Breakthrough Brits at the time) – our flagship programme showcasing and helping accelerate the careers of the next generation, and part of our charity’s vision that people from all backgrounds will have opportunities to thrive in the screen industries. Find out more about our BAFTA Breakthrough UK programme, supported by Netflix.