Andrew Garfield Was Terrified to Shave Florence Pugh’s Head on Camera: ‘Thank God She Has Such a Nicely Shaped Melon’

Andrew Garfield was worried about shaving Florence Pugh’s head on camera for their new movie.

While speaking with British Vogue about We Live in Time, Pugh, 28, and Garfield, 41, discussed filming the difficult scene while making A24’s romantic drama.

“It was a privilege to be given that job,” Garfield told the outlet of helping Pugh shave her head, while noting that he did feel nervous prior to shooting the scene.

“What if I somehow destroyed the head of one of the best actors of her generation?” he said. “It was terrifying, but ultimately it was a very beautiful, intimate scene to shoot and thank God she has such a nicely shaped melon.”

We Live in Time features Pugh and Garfield as a couple who meet entirely by accident when Pugh’s character Almut hits Garfield’s Tobias with a car. The movie then tracks the arc of their romance over a number of years, including through marriage, starting a family and an illness Almut faces

“I’m so glad I get to talk about it now. For any actor taking a role like this, it is completely important that you see her head and we see her shaving it — it was just always a no-brainer,” Pugh told British Vogue of shaving her head sometime around May 2023 during production. “You have the honor of doing something to yourself that is totally in support of the character.”

The actress added that life with a shaved head “was really bizarre,” and recalled that she felt “cold all the time” while it grew back.

“I was going through so many [aesthetic] iterations when I was also going through life decisions,” Pugh said of that time in her life. “I was like, ‘Cool, well I don’t look like me. I’m changed. I’m changing.’ Looking back on that summer, I was growing into a new thing.”

Garfield and Pugh’s We Live in Time is directed by John Crowley (Brooklyn, The Goldfinch). The movie made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 6. “Through snapshots of [Almut and Tobias’] life together — falling for each other, building a home, becoming a family — a difficult truth is revealed that rocks its foundation,” reads an official synopsis for the movie. “As they embark on a path challenged by the limits of time, they learn to cherish each moment of the unconventional route their love story has taken.”

We Live in Time begins playing in limited theaters Oct. 11 and expands nationwide Oct. 18.