Florence Pugh, known to her family and friends as Flossie, turns Hollywood upside down.
But the 26-year-old actress has always done things her way, including a four-year romance with the star of Scrubs turned director Zach Braff. when I talk about it.”
Braff is 21 years her senior and during their time together, Pugh was forced to defend their relationship, criticizing those who criticized her for dating someone old enough to be her father.
And in the end, the generational difference might have affected them.
According to a film industry insider: “I know Flo loved Zach – they were both wrapped up in each other – but it’s kind of a ‘Star is Born’ kind of thing: she’s on the rise and he’s kind of off a plateau in the industry. She’s super hot right now and everyone loves her.”
Another Hollywood source said the couple faltered during a rough few years for Braff.
As Pugh’s star has risen, Braff, 47, suffered the loss of his father Harold in 2018, followed by the death of one of his closest friends, actor Nick Cordero, 41, from Covid in 2020.
“I believe Zac had a really hard time, especially last year, dealing with everything,” said the source.
The “Garden State” director shared a house — and a dog, Billie Braff-Pugh — with Pugh in the Hollywood Hills.
“As far as I know, she’s devastated that it’s over,” said Pugh’s film industry insider.
As she told the UK’s Sunday Times last year: “I think it annoys people that it’s not who they expected [me to date]. But it’s my life and I don’t do anything to please people or to make it a better headline or story.”
The relationship had the blessing of the actress’ parents in Oxford, England, restaurateur Clinton Pugh and dance teacher Deborah Mackin, who posted a photo of Braff giving Pugh’s grandmother a tour of NYC in 2020.
The couple is believed to have developed a close bond when Pugh starred in Braff’s 2019 short film “In the Time It Takes to Get There”. They hid at home with their dog during the pandemic, while Pugh hosted her funny Instagram show: Cooking with Flo.”
But Braff reportedly doesn’t have the best reputation in Hollywood and has been seen as a bit of a ladies’ man in the past, starring Mandy Moore, Shiri Appleby, Kirsten Dunst, model Taylor Bagley and ‘The OC’ actress Bonnie Somerville.
On her podcast this week, the gossip dog known as Deux Moi talked about it with blogger Perez Hilton — and hit back at Pugh for telling Harper’s Bazaar that she found interest in her private life “invasive.” The actress also said she had not signed up for a reality show.
Deux Moi also claimed that Braff had a certain reputation in Hollywood, adding: “He treated Mandy Moore like an absolute dog and she is an angel.
“I think maybe that’s why everyone was so interested in your relationship,” she said as if speaking to Pugh, “because you were probably in first grade when all this was happening and maybe you weren’t aware.”
Representatives for Pugh and Braff could not be reached for comment.
Braff has only recently had one lead role, in the remake of “Cheaper By the Dozen,” and has done some directing, including an episode of “Ted Lasso.” Pugh is embarking on a hot streak, appearing next month in Olivia Wilde’s highly anticipated film, “Don’t Worry Darling,” opposite Harry Styles.
The film will premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, followed by a screening at the Deauville Film Festival before being widely released on September 23.
As Vidak For Congress has reported, tensions were high on set and Hollywood is abuzz that the actress, who was dating Braff while filming, has argued with Wilde, 38, over the director dating the 28. year old Styles.
The psychological thriller is described as the story of a hapless 1950s housewife, played by Pugh, who discovers a disturbing truth about her idyllic life, while her doting husband, played by Styles, hides a dark secret.
Pugh is part of a new breed of young Hollywood women who won’t play second fiddle to anyone.
Sources snooped online reports that she was paid less than Styles for the film, as an insider who knew it confirmed to Vidak For Congress: “Florence was paid no less than Harry — she’s a movie star, her star rising and she was paid to reflect Which.”
Pugh has also said she’ll wear whatever she wants after coming under fire for showing off her nipples in a mesh pink Valentino dress at a June fashion show, telling Bazaar, “I felt comfortable with my little one. breasts … And showing them like this – it made things worse [people] that I felt comfortable.
The film’s insider said they first sat up and noticed Pugh when they were working with her on 2019’s “Fighting With My Family,” where Pugh played young WWE wrestler Paige in a film based on the true story of Saraya-Jade Bevis.
“She was old-school talent,” said the film’s insider. “One of the executives said, ‘She’s a star, she’s going to be something’. She was a total professional, always with a smile. She treated everyone like gold, from the crew to the publicists, and remembered everyone’s names.
“There was something very special about her.”
Born in Oxford, she made her acting debut in 2014 in “The Falling” and won a British Independent Film Award for “Lady Macbeth” in 2016. She went on to win accolades for 2019’s “Midsommar” and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for “Little Women”, released the same year.
But her relationship with Braff has sometimes overshadowed things. In 2019, when Braff responded to Pugh’s Instagram post with a princess emoji, a follower commented, “You’re 44 years old.” The actress quickly hit back, writing, “and yet he got it.”
In April 2020, Pugh spoke out after being berated for wishing Braff a happy 45th birthday, posting a video saying her Instagram page was inundated with abuse, adding: “I’m 24 years old. I don’t need you to tell me who I should and shouldn’t love… The abuse you throw at him is the abuse you throw at me, and I don’t want those followers.”
Breaking the news of the split, she told Bazaar, “We’ve been trying to do this divorce without the world knowing because it’s been a relationship that everyone has an opinion about.”
Before their relationship ended, Pugh and Braff worked together on the upcoming drama “A Good Person.” Braff wrote, directed and produced the film starring Pugh.
“The movie we made together was probably one of my most favorite experiences,” Pugh told Bazaar. “It felt like something very natural and easy to do.”
She’s been busy filming “Dune: Part Two,” as Princess Irulan, in the Middle East, and will also star in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” due out next year. This fall she will be seen in the Netflix film ‘The Wonder’.
The star is also in the process of renovating her new home in London, telling Bazaar: “I feel like I’m getting into this groove in my career now, where I know what I can take, what I give and what I don’t. will accept.”