Florence Pugh was told to "lose weight" and "change the shape" of her face if she wanted a successful career in Hollywood.

Florence Pugh has opened up about her early years in Hollywood

Florence Pugh has opened up about her early years in Hollywood

The 26-year-old 'Don't Worry, Darling' actress has opened up about her early days in the entertainment industry and revealed she was horrified when she headed to Los Angeles as a teenager and industry bosses told her to make a number of changes to her appearance.

Florence told The Telegraph newspaper: "I felt very lucky and grateful, and couldn't believe that I had got this top-of-the-game job ... [But] all the things that they were trying to change about me - whether it was my weight, my look, the shape of my face, the shape of my eyebrows - that was so not what I wanted to do, or the industry I wanted to work in."

The actress' first big role came in 2014 movie 'The Falling' and she went on to land a part in a US TV movie called 'Studio City', but Florence felt disappointed with her experience in the States and worried she'd made the wrong career choice.

She went on: "I'd thought the film business would be like [my experience of making] 'The Falling', but actually, this was what the top of the game looked like, and I felt I'd made a massive mistake."

However, Florence continued with her acting career back in her native UK and she scored a leading role in 2016's 'Lady Macbeth' and she said the project made her "fall back in love with cinema".

She added: "I think it's far too easy for people in this industry to push you left and right. And I was lucky enough to discover when I was 19 what kind of a performer I wanted to be."

Florence went on to insist she wants to tackle roles that focus on her acting ability rather than her appearance, explaining: "When I could be naked at whatever size I was, and bare-faced, and the acting could speak for itself. There's nothing for people to be distracted by: they can't be like, 'Oh, I don't like the make-up'. It was a wonderful reminder: 'Oh, yeah - this is who you are'."


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