Florence Pugh: 'Black Widow' is 'rough' and 'emotional'

Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Black Widow star Florence Pugh says the film is "rough" and "emotional."

The 24-year-old actress discussed the upcoming Marvel movie in the February issue of Vogue.

Black Widow, which opens in theaters May 1, will mark Pugh's debut in the Marvel cinematic universe. Pugh plays Yelena Belova, a fellow assassin and sister-like friend to Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson).

"I didn't quite know what it was to be involved in one of these films," she said in the interview. "Obviously you have to be physically able because the whole point is that you're a superhero."

Black Widow takes place following the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), and follows Natasha (Johansson) as she confronts her past. Pugh described the film as "gut punch."

"[The story] deals with some really hard things. It's rough and painful and emotional and funny, and not in any way ... girly," she said. "It's about broken women picking up the pieces."

Black Widow is directed by Cate Shortland and co-stars David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle and Rachel Weisz. The movie is the second in the Marvel universe to focus on women, following Captain Marvel.

"[We] wanted to make something intimate within the massive Marvel universe," Shortland told the magazine. "We created female relationships with flesh and blood. They didn't have to play nice."

Johansson said in an interview with Vanity Fair in November that she hopes audiences find the film "empowering." A first teaser for the movie shows Natasha facing her past as a trained assassin.

Pugh is known for the films Lady Macbeth, Midsommar and Little Women. She also starred in a BBC One adaptation of the John le Carré novel The Little Drummer Girl.