Florence Pugh on The Little Drummer Girl and Alexander Skarsgård – interview

Florence, so lovely to speak with you. Hello. Thanks so much for taking the time. Of course. So, for people who don't know about The Little Drummer Girl, how do you summarise the story and your character's role, Charlie? Yes, so, how do I summarise the story? That's, even though that's such a simple question, it's not a simple answer. There are so many themes in this series, you know, there's a whole romantic relationship in the middle of this very complicated situation between, you know, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And I think that's what makes it so interesting. It's neither one or the other. I play a character called Charmian Ross, Charlie Ross, and she's an actress living in London. And she kind of gets whisked up into that world because she's really good at acting and she's really good at lying. And so, it was an amazing storyline to kind of play because she's not ready for that world and it was a really cool opportunity to play someone that was in that world but was one of us. And I hope that the audiences enjoy that aspect of it. John and Carrie's writing has been adapted so successfully for the screen, at least for the BBC's The Night Manager a few years back. So, what is it about his writing that just makes it so good for the screen? Something that I love and something that I think is kind of then transformed really well onto screen is the fact that it doesn't dumb down the audience. And I know that's such a simple thing but I think we're so used to being spoon-fed now, whether it's like in books or on podcasts or on TV, that actually it's really refreshing having something show you and not waiting for you to catch up. And I think that's a really amazing way of storytelling because his books are complicated and they are all so intricate and specific and I think I really love when it is put into film or TV because it just requires you to be there and be ready to watch it and that's one of the aspects that I love about his books and his films. And something that really strikes me about the series is it seems to balance style and substance so well. You know, the aesthetic, the 70s aesthetic is flawless but these really complex characters, meaty subjects. So, do you think that was something that was really important to pull this off? It's director Park Chan-wook so it's always going to look amazing. That's a given. But I think what was appealing to all of us was the fact that despite where we shot or how stunning it was, at the heart of it we are doing that really complicated storyline and it was so important for us to make sure that we were doing it in the right way and that we were understanding it as well. And alongside that we got to shot in these amazing places which is kind of the wonderful twist to the storyline is they go to the Acropolis and actually what he's doing is manipulating her and making her into a spy. And that carries through throughout the entire series which ends up making I think the audience and Charlie feeling a bit manipulated and I think that was that nice balance. It's an incredible cast and director but you in particular seem to have a really good chemistry with Alexander. That's because I love him. Was it amazing to work together? Yeah, it was amazing. He's a really, really talented man. I think what's so interesting is right now I'm in a position where I've done lots of lovely work and I've worked with amazing people but none of my stuff is out yet and people don't really know where I've come from. And what's really gorgeous is when I go onto a set and the person that's been working for years and the person that everybody knows and the person that is the most talented welcomes you in such a wonderful way and expects you to be a part of it as much as they are. For me that's just everything and Alex did that completely. He's a very talented person to watch. He's so effortless and beautiful on screen and that was just such a joy to work with him because I really felt part of the family and that was him so I love him. And you do go to some exotic locations. It looks like it was a lot of fun to film. Do you have a particular highlight? The Acropolis. What's funny is whenever you read a script there's always these amazing bits that happen in scripts and then at the beginning you go oh my god that's amazing but you won't really film there and then you'll get the next kind of copy of the script and that amazing thing will be gone and so I kept on expecting that the Acropolis would be gone in each new draft of the script and then finally we got to like a month before we filmed and the Acropolis was still in this scene. And I went to Director Park and I said are we actually filming at the Acropolis? And they were like yeah. And I was like we're actually filming at the Acropolis? Yeah. And so when we were there what's amazing is usually whenever you're reacting to something like that you have to look at I don't know like a green board or you have to look at a tennis ball on a stick and pretend you're looking at the Acropolis. And we were in the Acropolis and Director Park had two cameras on my face and on Alex's face and we were just required to look at the Acropolis in awe and that was the most beautiful, touching moment because it was just us on the Acropolis, it was like just our crew and we were allowed to just soak up this piece of history and that was the highlight of the series. It was unbelievable. I love leading Lady Park but also your character here, I feel like there's something very, very real about her, you know, she's sort of witty and brilliant but also so relatable. Do you think there are more interesting characters coming out for women more than ever than before? Yeah, totally and obviously what an amazing time to be in. I know we're growing and I know there are flaws in this industry and I know that things are changing and we're trying really hard to change them but what an amazing time for someone like me in the way that it's going in the industry, the way that it's cradling more voices, it's such an amazing time to be here and to be working because the opportunities are opening and characters like superheroes are being given to women and you have, you know, Doctor Who is now a woman. And then you also just have a character like Charlie who's very normal but is appreciated as being normal and that was another thing that attracted me to the role. It's a great time and I'm lucky to be a part of it. Fantastic. Thanks so much for your time. Thank you. Cheers. I'll see you around.