Advertisement
Florence Pugh just proved she’s not only a fierce presence on screen but also a total daredevil behind the scenes. The Thunderbolts star recently revealed that she went to impressive lengths to convince Marvel Studios to let her perform one of the most dangerous stunts in the film—a leap from the second tallest building in the world, Kuala Lumpur’s Merdeka 118 in Malaysia.
That’s right. Pugh, who plays Yelena Belova in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, didn’t want a stunt double for this jaw-dropping moment. Instead, she fought to do it herself. And it wasn’t easy.
In a new interview with Fandango, she shared the behind-the-scenes struggle that unfolded. The leap was originally written into the Thunderbolts script, but as filming got closer, Marvel executives started backing away from the idea due to insurance issues. And honestly, who can blame them? The building stands 2,722 feet tall—just the thought of someone jumping off it, even with safety gear, is nerve-racking.
But Pugh wasn’t having it.
“I got on all the emails,” she said. “It was in the script, and then slowly, as we got closer to shooting, they said it wasn’t going to happen. Obviously, they weren’t just going to toss me off the second tallest building in the world.”
Instead of letting it go, Pugh went full superhero mode behind the scenes—emailing Marvel boss Kevin Feige directly, pushing for the stunt to be reinstated.
“I was being a sassy Karen emailing Kevin and saying it’ll be great for the press tour,” she joked. “We’ll break Guinness World Records! We have to do this!”
Eventually, Marvel caved, and Pugh got her wish. She performed the stunt herself, becoming one of the few Hollywood actors—alongside names like Tom Cruise—to take on such extreme, record-setting challenges without a double.
As thrilling as it was, Pugh admitted the mental side of things was the toughest part. “I don’t mind heights. I actually enjoy them,” she said. “But this was next-level. The mental control I needed that day? That was its own superpower.”
With Thunderbolts on the horizon, fans now have even more reason to be excited—not just for the action, but to see Florence Pugh quite literally take the Marvel franchise to new heights.