Florence Pugh Says She 'Abused' Herself for Her Harrowing “Midsommar ”Performance: 'I Can't Do That Again'

The actress is still "really proud of what I did" in the 2019 film: "I don't regret it"

Florence Pugh learned the importance of boundaries after her emotionally taxing work making Midsommar.

The 2019 horror film, written and directed by Ari Aster, required Pugh to go to dark places as the lead character Dani, who finds herself trapped by a Swedish cult while traveling with a group, after enduring a huge tragedy in her life.

While on a recent episode of the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, Pugh, 29, recalled her struggles while making Midsommar.

"How have you learned to look after yourself and your mental wellbeing [while working]?" host Smith asked, to which Pugh replied, "Gosh, that's a good question — I'm still figuring it out."

"I don't think I'd be able to do this without going there all the way and putting myself in all of those characters that I've played. There's always a piece of me," said the We Live in Time actress.

"There's always a moment at the end of filming where I, like, protect and defend those characters until the very end, even if they've done god-awful things," explained Pugh. "I think that's only natural when you're in someone for so long."

She said "protecting" herself is something she's had to "learn how to do" over the years. "There have been some roles where I've given too much and I've been broken for a long while afterwards. Like when I did Midsommar, I definitely felt like I abused myself in the places that I got myself to go."

Related: Florence Pugh Shares Emotional ‘Last Picture’ of Her Hair Before Shaving Her Head for We Live in Time: ‘I’m Just Grateful’

"I mean, the nature of figuring these things out is you need to go, 'Alright, well, I can't do that again 'cause that was too much.' But then I look at that performance and I'm really proud of what I did, and I'm proud of what came out of me. I don't regret it."

"But, yeah," she added, "there's definitely things that you have to respect about yourself...."

Back in March 2023, Pugh, who earned an Oscar nomination for 2019's Little Women, echoed that her time on Midsommar was draining. The film also starred Will Poulter, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper and Vilhelm Blomgren.

"I'd never played someone that was in that much pain before, and I'd put myself in really s--- situations that maybe other actors don't need to do," she said on the Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster podcast at the time.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

"Each day the content would be getting more weird and harder to do. I was putting things in my head that were just getting worse and more bleak," added Pugh. "I think by the end I had probably, most definitely abused my own self in order to get that performance."

We Live in Time is now available on demand. Midsommar is currently streaming on Max.