Florence Pugh got a buzzcut sometime just before the Met Gala (May 1st, this year). She rocked up to the Met Gala carpet wearing an elaborate headpiece, showcasing her buzzcut. I remember seeing some headlines about it, but it didn’t feel like a massive story, honestly. I mean that as a compliment to Florence – she’s got so much going on professionally and personally, so many dramas and so many movies, that her hair choices barely register. Plus, she’s sort of known for “wacky” style. She’s not precious about needing to look a certain way or always being camera-ready. Anyway, since she got a buzzcut, she’s grown it out a little bit to a punk pixie, basically. Pre-strike, she was putting “tints” in her hair according to her mood – one day there was a pink tint, another day there was an orange-yellow tint. Now Miss Flo is talking about why she made the dramatic hair choice in the first place:

Over two months after debuting a new dramatic hairstyle at this year’s Met Gala in May, Florence Pugh is opening up about why she opted for the buzzed-cut look.

“I purposefully chose to look like that. I wanted vanity out of the picture,” the Oppenheimer actress, 27, told Radio Times in an interview, per the Daily Mail. “Hollywood is very glamorous — especially for women — and it’s hard for an audience to see past that. Whenever I’ve not needed to be glam or have a full face of makeup, I fight to keep it that way. It helps the audience. Vanity is gone. The only thing that people can look at then is your raw face,” she said.

“Even at the beginning of my career, I was always fighting to control my image,” Pugh also said. “It helps me when I’m wearing less makeup because then I’m less of a sparkly thing on screen. I feel like I’m allowed to do ugly faces, like it’s more acceptable.”

Discussing Oppenheimer, Pugh told Radio Times, “It’s one of the biggest movies I’ve made. Chris’ approach is similar to indie movie-making. It reminded me of the early days when I was used to a fast-paced way of working — where, if you lost a scene from the day, you would lose it from the movie. When I walked on set, I couldn’t believe there was that similar, incredible adrenaline, which I hadn’t felt on a massive movie for a long time. It’s a wonderful thing to inject into a film set — believing in yourself and what you’re making.”

[From People]

I get that, the idea that she wanted an off-duty style to de-pretty herself. There are some actresses who do that, especially if they’ve been working on back-to-back projects and/or they’ve just done a role where they have to dye their hair or wear a lot of makeup. I remember Kristen Stewart doing something similar after she did roles with a lot of wig work and dyed hair – she shaved it off and started fresh (plus it was for a role). The feminine urge to simplify, shave your head and go braless – it’s kind of universal, right? I mean, I never want to shave my head, but sometimes I do have the itch for a dramatic chop and a crazy dye job. Men will never understand how often women think “maybe I should cut off all my hair and never wear a bra again.”

PS… While the buzzcut wasn’t my jam, Flo’s current hair style (grown out a bit) looks amazing on her. It’s incredibly flattering.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red, Cover Images.