Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Bob (Lewis Pullman) are the beating heart at the center of Marvel’s Thunderbolts*. As soon as Yelena meets him, she wants to take him under her wing and protect him at all costs, showing that there is a good person deep down inside of her. The two might have an instant connection, but there are a lot of intense moments to come, especially as Bob starts to discover his powers. While on the red carpet, though, Pugh revealed that the real-life dynamic between her and Pullman could not be any further from that of Yelena and Bob.
Thunderbolts* is one of the most grounded Marvel films in years. It follows a group of “disposable misfits” – Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster, and John Walker – as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) would call them, who must learn to work together to succeed in a dangerous mission. A mission that forces them to look deep inside themselves and confront the parts that they would rather forget about.
ScreenRant caught up with some of the cast and creatives behind Marvel’s Thunderbolts* at the red carpet premiere in Hollywood, including Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Violet McGraw, and Paul Jenkins. Pugh, Harbour, and McGraw star in the film, while Jenkins is the creator of The Sentry, who is played by Lewis Pullman. Harbour and McGraw both raved about working closely with Pugh, while Jenkins talked about his inspirations behind The Sentry and how he collaborated with Director Jake Shreier to bring Pullman’s version to the screen.
Florence Pugh Reveals Hilarious Real-Life Dynamic With Lewis Pullman
“I Was Just So Grateful That We Got Along In Such A Beautiful Way”
Yelena and Bob are at the emotional core of Thunderbolts*, so we asked Pugh about forming that relationship with Lewis Pullman. “I love Lewis,” she exclaims, before adding, “I’ve known that I was going to be doing a second movie for a while now, and when I met him, I was just so grateful that we got along in such a beautiful way.“
We were restraining our faces to stop tweaking in all the ways that they do. It was so lovely.
Pugh admits that while on screen their dynamic has its ups and downs, in real life they often found themselves laughing between takes. “But we had so much laughter, so much laughter in between every single take that you see on camera, like from his face to my face, every single setup, we are just pissing ourselves and then restraining our faces to stop tweaking in all the ways that they do. It was so lovely.“
David Harbour Admits Florence Pugh Pushed To Add A Deeper Layer Between Alexei & Yelena
“We Labored And Labored Over It”
Both Yelena and Alexei went through a lot in losing Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), which forces them to confront the grief that they are dealing with in Thunderbolts*. When asked about getting to explore and deepen that relationship, Harbour admits that it was mostly Florence Pugh who pushed for them to go there.
“Florence and I knew we had something really special on Black Widow, and we hoped that we’d be able to do it again. So when we came back to this we were adamant we had rehearsals, and we were adamant she even more so than me, and I’m usually the one who’s having to argue for stuff, but she was like, we need to layer this relationship, make it as deep and realistic as possible, especially with a family member that we’ve lost.“
Harbour goes on to explain all of the layers they considered when crafting their performances. “What has been the emotional response to that? How are they not talking to each other? Why are they not talking to each other? How are they going to get over that hump? What are they going to have to say?“. He adds “We labored and labored and labored over it. I’m so happy that we did, because I’m so proud. You don’t get that much screen time in these movies to do something deeply complex like that. You got a lot of action, you got a lot of stuff. And I feel like, especially working with her, we really layered in something really nice. And I’m really happy about it.“
Violet McGraw Is Thrilled She Was Able To Be On-Screen With Florence Pugh
“When You’re Around Her, There’s Magic In The Air”
Often when an actor or actress is playing the younger version of themselves, they do not get to film with their older counterpart. This is for obvious reasons, but due to the nature of Thunderbolts*, Violet McGraw does share a couple of scenes with Florence Pugh. She reprises her role as young Yelena from Black Widow in the new Marvel film. When asked about getting to work with Pugh, McGraw immediately says “It was amazing,” before adding, “I’ve been wanting to work with Florence forever, and it was on my bucket list, I can’t believe that I actually finally got to be in a scene with Florence Pugh. Such goals.“
While she can’t talk too much about the details of the sequence, and what it means for the film, McGraw admits it was exciting for her, but interesting to wrap her head around. “Wait, I’m actually in a scene with my older self. That’s weird. That’s trippy.” She goes on to praise Pugh, stating “she’s so talented and genuine. It’s so hard to find such genuine people like Florence, and she’s truly so sweet. When you’re around her, there’s magic in the air. She’s amazing.“
The Sentry Creator Paul Jenkins Was A Key Part Of The Collaboration
“People Write To Me Every Day And Say, Thank You. Thank You For Creating The Character.”
Creator of The Sentry, Paul Jenkins, is very excited to see him come to the screen. This character means a lot to him, so he is happy that he was a key part of the collaboration to bring The Sentry to the screen in Thunderbolts*. “I got to work on the film a little bit, so I got to consult with them, and talk to the director a little bit about the why of The Sentry. And from what I understand, I haven’t seen it yet, but from what I understand, people are really into it.“
Comic book readers already know this, but The Sentry represents depression, which Jenkins goes on to explain. “So here’s the thing, when I got to talk to them, I said to Jake, I hope he becomes for people struggling with mental health what Black Panther became for people of color. I think that every one of us struggles with just existing. I think we have, we have family members who maybe pᴀssed from Alzheimer’s or any of these things. We all struggle with this stuff.“
The Sentry is someone that many people can relate to when reading the comics, and now even more people will get to because he is on the big screen. “You need to see a character like Sentry. One of the things, the prevalence of the character now and people seeing him, I get people write to me every day and say, Thank you, thank you for creating the character,” Jenkins admits.
Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters.
Source: Screen Rant Plus
