How Florence Pugh Beat Emma Watson To Play Yelena Belova

How Florence Pugh Beat Emma Watson To Play Yelena Belova

Emma Watson nearly landed the role of Yelena Belova in Marvel’s Black Widow movie—here’s why it ultimately went to Florence Pugh instead.

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How Florence Pugh Beat Emma Watson To Play Yelena Belova

Emma Watson was almost handed the role of Yelena Belova in Black Widow, but ultimately, Florence Pugh was cast — here’s why. Set chronologically after Captain America: Civil War, Marvel’s Black Widow follows Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) prior to the events that led to her becoming a member of the Avengers. Amidst the action and emotional turmoil, the film’s unexpected scene-stealer happens to be Yelena Belova, Natasha’s adoptive sister who was also trained in the Red Room since childhood.

Before the film’s production started in early 2019, there were reports of Emma Watson being the top choice of Black Widow director Cate Shortland, as well as Marvel executives Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum. Perhaps they were initially considering a different approach to the “female Bond” character, which would have been accomplished by Watson’s prowess. Given her acting credits, including the Harry Potter franchise, the live adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, and the 2019 remake of Little Women, Emma Watson’s Yelena would have put a different spin on the blunt, child-like curiosity delivered by Pugh in the film. Ultimately, that was not the case.

Eventually it was announced that Pugh would play Yelena Belova in Black Widow, beating out the other contenders which also reportedly included Saoirse Ronan, Alice Englert, and Dar Zuzovsky. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Cate Shortland admitted that when she met with Marvel executives for the first time, she mentioned her excitement of working with Pugh because of the latter’s filmography. While Shortland was a fan of Lady Macbeth, the producers were more impressed with Pugh’s performance as professional wrestler Saraya-Jade Bevis (aka former WWE Divas Champion Paige) in the 2019 biographical film Fighting with My Family. Her role in the film demonstrated an ability to handle physically demanding takes and balance them with a consistently charismatic and adroit performance.

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Moreover, Shortland had foreseen Pugh’s ability to match Johansson’s energy on screen, which was vital considering how most of the film was anchored on their important sibling dynamics. Pugh’s dancing and athletic background also came in handy when the film called for exacting fight choreography. Unsurprisingly, because of this, she also performed most of her own stunts, making her a valuable and promising player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

When Pugh was cast as Yelena Belova, she had to set her ground rules too. For starters, she made sure that she was personally overseeing her fitness regimen, which involved her bringing homemade food to the film’s set. After all, she is known to advocate for body positivity and refuses to alter her look to fit Hollywood’s distorted beauty conventions. All of these skills and characteristics, combined with Florence Pugh’s comedic timing and emotional acting prove how fitting the casting of Yelena Belova was. Fortunately, Yelena’s mission in Black Widow was just the beginning, as she is set to avenge Natasha’s death in the Disney+ series Hawkeye, and could possible appear in future MCU projects as well.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/black-widow-yelena-florence-pugh-emma-watson-casting/

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