Kevin Feige lets Florence Pugh take full control of Yelena Belova — ‘more freedom’
Turns out Kevin Feige trusted Florence Pugh to nail Yelena Belova’s whole vibe — quirks included — and she’s detailing how she made the character her own.
Yelena Belova’s dry humor almost didn’t exist. During early Black Widow rehearsals, Florence Pugh tried reading Yelena with her own English accent — and the character felt, in her words, kind of miserable. At home one night, while cooking dinner, she tested a Russian accent instead. Suddenly Yelena was sharper, funnier, more sardonic. Pugh shot a few phone videos, pitched the switch to director Cate Shortland, and sent the clips up the chain. Kevin Feige signed off fast, and Yelena’s voice snapped into place.
Pugh says the accent was only part of the freedom she got inside the MCU . Feige and the team gave her latitude to tweak lines and build little character beats — the stuff that turned Yelena’s brutal backstory into something unexpectedly warm and witty.
“I had more freedom in creating lines, moments,” Pugh said.
“And it ’s just so fascinating when you’re building a character and you’re given the space to,”
That trust has carried through each of Yelena’s appearances so far:
- Black Widow (2021) — Pugh’s debut as Yelena
- Hawkeye — a scene-stealing holiday run-in with Clint and Kate
- Thunderbolts — Yelena steps into antihero territory
Keep it calm
Pugh also opened up about how she works best on set. She told Vanity Fair she can’t stand chaotic shoots and wants everyone to show up appreciating “the luxury” of the job; when someone disrupts that, the mood nosedives and people feel uncared for. That calm, she says, is what lets her lock into characters — whether it’s Yelena’s deadpan bite or the thorny, magnetic Cathy Ames in East of Eden.
East of Eden, a seven-episode limited series developed by Zoe Kazan and starring Pugh as Cathy, is now streaming on Netflix after premiering October 1.
What’s next for Yelena
Looking ahead, Feige hinted to Vanity Fair that Yelena is poised to anchor the ensemble in Avengers: Doomsday, which is slated to arrive in December.