Florence Pugh reveals Tom Holland helped bring her into ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Florence Pugh revealed that her appearance as the character of Yelena Belova in 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' happened because Tom Holland had previously expressed his desire to work with her.

During an appearance on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' on Monday, September 28, Pugh revealed that she was also surprised by her role in 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day,' explaining that it “happened because of Tom.”

Florence Pugh reveals Tom Holland wanted Yelena in 'Spider-Man'

Pugh recalled that years ago, when she had just started her relationship with Marvel and 'Black Widow' had been released, her character Yelena was not as prominent as some of the other major superheroes. According to the actress, Holland was asked on the red carpet of his previous movie who he would want to appear in the next 'Spider-Man' film.

“He, on the red carpet of his previous movie, when someone said, ‘Who do you want to be in the next movie with?’… said, ‘No, actually, I want to do it with Florence Pugh, who plays Yelena.’ So because of that, fans were then so excited about the idea of it,” Pugh said.

Pugh first portrayed Yelena in 2021’s 'Black Widow' before reprising the role in 2025’s 'Thunderbolts.' Her portrayal also included embracing Yelena’s daredevil side during production.

At a special screening of 'Thunderbolts' hosted by The Cinema Society and Synchrony in New York City on April 30, director Jake Schreier recalled Pugh’s determination to perform a stunt involving Malaysia’s Merdeka 118, the second-tallest building in the world.

Marvel and Disney’s health and safety divisions denied her request to jump from the building three times, according to Schreier, but she continued pursuing the stunt. “She really did it and Disney Health and Safety said no maybe three times and she just would not let it die,” Schreier said.

Florence Pugh reflects on Yelena and 'Thunderbolts'

Pugh also reflected on her experience making 'Thunderbolts' in a lengthy caption shared alongside 20 behind-the-scenes photographs featuring costars David Harbour, Lewis Pullman, Hannah John-Kamen, Wyatt Russell and others.

Calling the post her “love letter to Thunderbolts* and to all the people that made it,” Pugh reflected on the years since the movie had “whispers” following 'Black Widow.' She praised Marvel Studios and director Jake Schreier, saying Schreier “led the charge and made sure we created something that would matter and mean a lot to all those watching it.”

Pugh also revealed that she was experiencing personal difficulties while filming the movie and learned from the work she was doing. She wrote that she had “such a connection to this film, my character, my history with Yelena” and her admiration for how the movies are made.

She added that the storyline, which hoped to reach as many fans as possible, “actually reached me while I was in my funky state,” making her understand “the power of movie making.”