Overview
- Pugh disclosed on The Louis Theroux Podcast that the emotional strain of playing Dani resulted in roughly six months of depression after filming.
- She described forcing herself into traumatic imagined scenarios to achieve the performance, escalating from envisioning a sibling’s death to picturing her whole family’s funeral.
- The actor moved from the Midsommar set in Budapest to Little Women in Boston with only a brief gap, and she said she broke down in tears on the flight as she processed leaving the character behind.
- Pugh said she had “abused” her mental health to reach the role’s intensity and now intends to avoid projects that require similar self-imposed exhaustion.
- She emphasized that any harm was self-inflicted through her methods and reiterated praise for Aster, separating her experience from the director or production.