Florence Pugh Doesn’t Want Any Rude Jerks Working on Her Movies

I’ve been blessed enough to direct several projects during my career as a filmmaker. During one of the last ones I worked on, an independent pilot about theater bartending, I sat the crew down on the first day and let them all know my two big rules. One: if you have an idea, tell me. The worst that can happen is I say no. Filmmaking is collaborative, and the best ideas can come from anyone. Two: don’t be an a**hole.

While the first rule was something I’ve always had, I had to learn to say the second. You can always assume that your crew is full of people who can keep their cool under pressure and long hours (and there will be both), but that is far from guaranteed. However, you can hedge your bets in the right direction if you simply make it clear that you are there to do something not many people get to do, and that if there are problems or issues, we’ll figure them out without being mean to each other.

And look, this is one of several ways that Florence Pugh and I are similar. We’ve both watched as our terrible ex-boyfriends burned alive in bear costumes, and we don’t suffer nonsense on our sets. The Thunderbolts* actress recently explained to Elle magazine that she does not suffer “rude” people on her sets. Not only is that a good philosophy to have, but it’s great to hear from someone with enough star power that saying as much will likely make a difference.

“The thing that I’m getting better and better at is protecting myself,” Pugh told Elle via THR. “Every time I work on a movie, I get more confident in the way that I can protect myself and the way that I can lead a film set, and just not stand for bullshit anymore. I’m not doing it. I’m not standing for bullshit behavior. I’m not standing for bullshit attitude. I’m not allowing for people to be rude to the crew.” Hell yeah, Florence.

She went on to explain that holding such standards keeps the work from getting “messy,” which can happen very easily. There are still plenty of things that can go wrong on a set, and personalities can clash, but establishing a base makes a lot of sense and will protect everyone, not just Pugh. She went on to lay out her mantra, which would honestly look pretty great on a T-shirt: “Show up on time, don’t be rude, don’t be a misogynist.”

Go off, Florence.