Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova in Thunderbolts* (Image via YouTube/Marvel Entertainment)

"I was like, what the f**k" — Florence Pugh shares how she convinced Kevin Feige to perform the stunts in Thunderbolts* after Marvel initially denied

Modified Apr 15, 2025 19:21 GMT

Florence Pugh has been playing the role of the antihero Yelena Belova in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2021's Black Widow. She has reprised the role for the TV series, Hawkeye, and will do it again in the upcoming film, Thunderbolts*.

In one of the featurettes released for Thunderbolts* on April 13, 2025, Florence Pugh can be seen performing a highly risky stunt of jumping from a tall building.

Speaking about it in an interview with Fandango on April 14, 2025, the Little Women actress revealed that she personally convinced Kevin Feige and the studio to let her do it.

"I got on all the emails. It was in the script, and then slowly, as we got closer and closer to shooting, they said they don’t think it’s going to happen because it’s a crazy insurance ordeal and, obviously, we’re not going to throw [me] off the second-tallest building in the world. I was like, what the f**k? Of course, we are! We have to do that," she said.

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Pugh texted Feige that actually doing the stunt would be an advantage for the press tour. She further said that she liked heights, but this was an entirely different scenario.

The actress explained that the mental control she had to do for the stunt was a kind of superpower in itself, and she fell asleep for three hours after she was done shooting it because her brain "shut down."

Marvel released the behind-the-scenes video of the stunt on April 11, 2025, which showed that Pugh actually jumped from the second tallest building in the world—the Merdeka 118 building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Also read: "Jake Schreier is an excellent director"—Fans have high hopes for the upcoming Thunderbolts* by Marvel Studios, as the trailer comes out

Florence Pugh claimed Thunderbolts* has an indie feel to it

Florence Pugh has appeared in several independent films in her career, such as Lady Macbeth and Midsommar. She has also appeared in her fair share of big-budget movies, one of which is Thunderbolts*, and she believes that the new Marvel movie has an indie feel to it.

Also read: "Looks bad"- The new teaser of Thunderbolts* seems to have left Marvel fans uninterested in the movie

In a joint interview with Empire published on March 6, 2025, Pugh said:

"It ended up becoming this quite bada*s indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes."

Director Jake Schreier, who also has expertise in indie productions, stated:

"There’s a certain amount of that Beef tone in it, that does feel different. There’s an emotional darkness that we brought to this that is resonant, but doesn’t come at the expense of comedy."

Schreier is best known as the director of the hit Netflix TV series Beef, which is also produced by A24. He revealed that he was specifically asked to make this movie different from what that audience has seen from Marvel before or even expects of it.

Also read: Thunderbolts* (2025): Full list of cast explored

Florence Pugh's thoughts on Lewis Pullman's Bob in Thunderbolts*

Lewis Pullman as Bob in Thunderbolts* (Image via YouTube/Marvel Studios Canada)

Besides Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, the movie stars several other characters. One of those many characters is Bob/Sentry, portrayed by Lewis Pullman. Much is not known about the character except that there is more to Bob than meets the eye.

However, Pugh has different thoughts about it. In the above-mentioned interview with Empire, she said:

"Bob is going through what all of them are probably, secretly, going through. [...] He’s absolutely useless."

She also said that Yelena sees parts of herself in Bob and that Yelena has a 'sweet spot' for the character.

Thunderbolts* will be in theaters on May 2, 2025.

About the author

Ankita Shaw is an Entertainment Writer at Sportskeeda. While she has a Bachelor's degree in Physiology, her interest in films, television shows, and books has propelled her into the world of entertainment journalism.

With a passion for storytelling, she has worked as a writer for the digital publication TheThings and served as a full-time Entertainment News Writer at Animated Times, accumulating over one and a half years of experience. As an entertainment reporter, she enjoys reading and writing about the personal experiences of celebrities, with a particular emphasis on their human side beyond fame, wealth, and glamour.

Outside of her professional commitments, she is an aficionado of compelling narratives and enjoys watching films across diverse genres. In music, her favorite is the British-Irish boyband One Direction. She is fascinated by their creative output, which evokes joy and positivity through themes such as self-discovery, heartbreak, and love.

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