Florence Pugh Details Her Stunt Work and Tribute to Scarlett Johansson in Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts*’

Florence Pugh, reprising her role as Yelena Belova in Marvel’s upcoming film ‘Thunderbolts*’, has revealed new details about performing a high-stakes stunt involving a jump from the Merdeka 118 skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, the second tallest building in the world. Though the daring scene was not originally her idea, she advocated for its return after it was removed from the script. Inspired by Tom Cruise’s legacy of doing his own stunts, Pugh embraced the challenge as her own ‘mini Tom Cruise moment.’ She expressed admiration for Cruise’s dedication, noting she wasn’t flying planes or riding motorcycles, but enjoyed the intense experience. The film unites several antiheroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe including Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster, and John Walker, filling the void left by the Avengers. Pugh also spoke emotionally about missing Scarlett Johansson, her co-star in ‘Black Widow’, who introduced her to the Marvel franchise. Although their time together in the MCU was brief, Pugh expressed hope that Johansson is proud of how she’s carried on the character’s legacy. ‘Thunderbolts*’, rated PG-13, is set to hit theaters nationwide this Friday.