Florence Pugh on 'East of Eden': 'That Was Scary'

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Florence Pugh on 'East of Eden': 'That Was Scary'.

A character so contradictory that she robbed her actress of sleep – and yet still lets her grow. In the new Netflix series 'East of Eden', Florence Pugh (30) delivers a performance as Cathy Ames that visibly carries a great deal of work behind it. The seven-part adaptation of the Steinbeck classic has been available on the streaming service since October 1.

The role demands a great deal of the British actress. Cathy Ames is described as a "mysterious and ruthless" figure whose motives aren't immediately apparent. To portray this convincingly, Pugh worked through the character literally layer by layer together with series creator Zoe Kazan.

How Florence Pugh Worked on Cathy Ames

What exactly unfolded between the two is something Pugh recounts on the Netflix podcast 'Skip Intro': they broke down Cathy's individual layers – who she becomes and why she makes the decisions she makes. Detective work on the script that has visibly left its mark.

Then we started breaking down Cathy's individual layers – who she becomes and why she makes the decisions she makes. It was both exciting and scary.

It is precisely this "scary" that makes Pugh's statement compelling. It's not about stage fright or premiere nerves, but about the fear of not doing justice to such a multi-layered novel character – and at the same time the courage to commit to her anyway.

What the Role Means for Pugh's Career

The experience appears to have changed her. According to a Promiflash report, the work not only caused her discomfort but also gave her further self-confidence. For Pugh, the role is a major step in her career and an opportunity to develop further as an actress.

Those who previously knew Pugh primarily from the Marvel universe ("Black Widow") or from "Little Women" and "Midsommar" get to see, with Cathy Ames, a side of the actress that doesn't fit the mold of the "nice" young heroine at all. That seems to be exactly the point where she wanted to grow – far from expectations, with a character who pushes her to her limits.