For as hard as she’s worked in the past couple of years, the 2025 movie schedule is relatively chill for Florence Pugh. Well, that is if you count your only film for the year being Marvel’s Thunderbolts* as something somewhat relaxing and low pressure. It can get quite scary, which fits the energy of a story that the Dune: Part Two star told Stephen Colbert in a past interview. If you’ve ever been frightened by the Lord of the Rings movies, this one’s for you.
In honor of her recent birthday, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s Instagram shared a clip where Florence Pugh spoke with the late night comedian about scary movie moments. Yes, that emotional Midsommar performance was a part of the story, but it was this memory of Peter Jackson’s first trilogy of Tolkien adaptations that cracked Colber up in the moment:
The first thing I ever watched that made me regret going to bed alone was The Lord of the Rings when all the ... just their faces, all of the orcs faces look like they really need some moisturizer. I was like, 'Oh babe, you're gonna get some wrinkles.'
I honestly don’t know what’s funnier: the star from one of the best horror movies worrying about the Orcs’ moisturizing regimen, or Stephen Colbert admitting that Midsommar was outside of his fright limits? To be absolutely fair, these horrific minions of Sir Christopher Lee's Saruman do look insanely imposing - skin care jokes aside. Just in case you’ve never seen an Orc, or need a reminder of what we’re dealing with here, behold:
I can kind of see these characters being one of the reasons Peter Jackson’s favorite LOTR movie happens to be his choice. While I still respectfully disagree with his choice, seeing Orc faces ranging from funny scary to legitimately unsettling reflects the earlier portion of Jackson’s filmography.
I’m sure if Mr. Jackson knows of this story, he’d smile knowing that his edge making pictures like Dead Alive and The Frighteners was still pretty sharp in Middle-earth. However, while we’ve talked out Florence Pugh’s Lord of the Rings experience quite a bit, you need to actually see her cracking up Stephen Colbert. Without further ado, please enjoy that clip included for your merriment:
You never truly know what someone is scared of, and sometimes the reasons can offset those fears rather hysterically. Sharing stories that reveal such fears is a human moment we can all relate to, and if you’re a mega fan like Stephen Colbert, it’ll give you a good laugh. Perhaps this is a lesson we should all learn when dealing with what haunts us, if only to help us see just how silly some of those fears happen to be.
Whether you’re a Florence Pugh fan, or a loyal Middle-earth Saga devotee, having a Max subscription is an indispensable resource of entertainment. Not only are all six entries in Peter Jackson’s live-action opus available through that platform, you can also see Ms. Pugh in Dune: Part Two and Midsommar as well. Or, if you’re ready for a pre-Valentine’s Day cry fest, We Live In Time will be available on that same platform, starting February 7th.
