Florence Pugh Opens Up About Embracing Her Body: ‘I’m Not Trying to Hide the Cellulite’

"I've become more confident in the last few years," the actress told the October edition of Elle UK

Florence Pugh is comfortable in her own skin.

The actress, 27, opened up about embracing her body in a cover shoot and interview for Elle UK’s October issue.

“I speak the way I do about my body because I’m not trying to hide the cellulite on my thigh or the squidge in between my arm and my boob: I would much rather lay it all out," she said. “I think the scariest thing for me are the instances where people have been upset that I’ve shown ‘too much’ of myself.”

The Oppenheimer star then went on to discuss the backlash she received for wearing a sheer pink halterneck gown to the Valentino couture show in Rome last summer.

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“When everything went down with the Valentino pink dress a year ago, my nipples were on display through a piece of fabric, and it really wound people up,” said Pugh. “It’s the freedom that people are scared of; the fact I’m comfortable and happy.”

Pugh added that she thinks the reaction showed people are “terrified of the human body.”

“Keeping women down by commenting on their bodies has worked for a very long time,” she continued to Elle UK.

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“I think we’re in this swing now where lots of people are saying, ‘I don’t give a s---.’ Unfortunately, we’ve become so terrified of the human body that we can’t even look at my two little cute nipples behind fabric in a way that isn’t sexual. We need to keep reminding everybody that there is more than one reason for women’s bodies [to exist].”

Shortly after she wore her pink gown, Pugh addressed the reaction it drew on Instagram — and said that while she knew there would be commentary on the dress, she found it "interesting to watch and witness just how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see."

"Thankfully, I’ve come to terms with the intricacies of my body that make me, me. I’m happy with all of the ‘flaws’ that I couldn’t bear to look at when I was 14," she wrote on Instagram.

"So many of you wanted to aggressively let me know how disappointed you were by my ‘tiny t---,' or how I should be embarrassed by being so ‘flat chested.' I’ve lived in my body for a long time. I’m fully aware of my breast size and am not scared of it," she added.

During her chat with Elle UK, the Midsommar star also opened up about how her confidence has grown over the years, especially when it comes to appearing on red carpets.

“When I first started doing red carpets, it was really tough,” she told Elle UK. “It takes ages to feel comfortable with 50 men all shouting, ‘Picture, over here!’ "

"I’ve become more confident in the last few years," she added. "I think that’s hugely linked to the clothes I’ve been wearing. The more you can enjoy it, the more [people] can see that you’re enjoying it.”

For the London premiere of Oppenheimer last month — Pugh's last before the SAG-AFTRA strike — she donned a copper-orange cutout dress and showed off a new hair color, having dyed her now grown-out buzz cut an orangey blonde.

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