Big Gay Crush: Florence Pugh
by Alyssa Sileo
If you’re reading this, Brie Larson: please know my love for you, as expressed in my blog, “Big Gay Crush: Brie Larson,” has not diminished. It’s just Big Gay Crush in my heart and soul has been joined by a new Best Friend (a new Gal Pal, if you will). That would be my Big Gay Crush on the British actress Florence Pugh.
I first discovered Florence when I saw her star as Amy March in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women on the second day of 2020, which effectively turned it into The Year of Pugh for me. I fell in love with her personality and her acting chops. Also, her level of prettiness should be illegal.
To explain my fixation, here are some reasons why I have a Big Gay Crush on Florence Pugh.
(This has been my screensaver to keep me from going stir-crazy in Quarantine…)
- Let’s start with the role that introduced me to her existence in the first place: her portrayal as Amy March. Admittedly I am only halfway through the actual novel of Little Women, and I haven’t seen the other film adaptations, but I’ve heard her character has often been posed as the villain or as a shallow girl. Folks have praised Florence’s Amy for her depth and dynamic. I absolutely adored her character. She’s elegant, adorable, devilish, and above all, relatable. Plus, she’s just gorgeous. I watch the movie with wide eyes like how I used to watch princess movies as a little kid. She’s just meant to be in this era in these beautiful dresses…Her in that white dress and hat just kills me.
- Florence has the RANGE. She’s played a coming-of-age girl from Civil War-era New England in Little Woman, a early-career wrestler in Fighting With My Family, an unhappily married woman in Lady Macbeth, and another young woman stumbling upon a cult in Midsommar. She can make you laugh, cry, or just plain scared.
And I have to say, I love her for her blonde hair (I have a type, I get it, okay), but, DANG, she can be attractive as a goth too…
She’s wearing a snapback, y’all, this is too much for me to handle.
3. Her Instagram, @florencepugh, has been providing the quarantine content that we NEED. She posts super goofy dancing videos on her story on a regular basis. She just makes me smile all the time.
4. She’s also been posting cooking videos on her Instagram story! She makes great recipes and just makes cooking seem fun.
5. I don’t know how else to say it other than that I’m obsessed with her voice, both in its normal British and American varieties.
I don’t know she’s saying in this photo, but I know it’s probably very compelling and nice to listen to.
6. She is SO funny and random. This video of her talking for 5 minutes straight is pure gold. When she calls one of her friends her “girlfriend” I imagine for a second that it’s me she’s talking about.
7. I just love her name. Florence Pugh. I think Alyssa Pugh-Sileo sounds great. Florence Pugh-Sileo sounds great too.
8. She looks great in anything. Her glam level is 200%,
9. This photo is one of the most steadfast, long-lasting reasons why I love Florence Pugh.
10. She’s going to be SUPERHERO! (Okay, I’m not actually sure if her character is a superhero…but it’s Marvel so.) She is going to be playing Yelena Belova in Black Widow (which will be coming out…TBD…thanks, Corona) and she will have a Russian accent. I don’t know how I will make it through this movie but I will persevere. Because Florence.
Thanks for tuning into my Big Gay Ranting. Florence, thanks for the sunshine from your smile.
About the Author:
Alyssa Sileo’s Thespian identity comes first and foremost in anything she carries out. As a member of the Drew University Class of 2022, she studies theatre arts, women’s and gender studies, and Spanish. She’s a proud NJ Thespian Alumni and member of their state chapter board. She is the leader of the international performances network The Laramie Project Project, which unites worldwide productions and readings of the acclaimed Tectonic Theater Project play and encourages community-based LGBTQ+ advocacy. Alyssa is humbled to serve as the 2017 Spirit of Matthew Award winner and as a Youth Ambassador for Matthew Shepard Foundation. She believes there is an advocacy platform tucked into every piece of the theatre catalogue and intends to write outreach into the canon.
