Forence has a sprinkling of star dust

FLORENCE Pugh goes through an extraordinary transformation in the film Lady Macbeth.

We first meet her character, Katherine, as an innocent bride humiliated by her abusive husban nd on their wedding night, when she’s made to strip while he watches and pleasures himself.

You see that she’s such a child in that situation,’ the 20-year-old actress (pictured) told me.

Soon, Katherine is cavorting with farm hand Sebastian played by Cosmo Jarvis) and is an innocent no more.

We tapped into the whole fiery side of that relationship,’ pugh said of the intricately choreographed scenes.

The movie, directed by William Oldroyd and produced by the BFI and BBC Films, caused a sensation at the Toronto International film Festival. Altitude Films soon snapped it up for release in the UK (it’s out next year), but it’s also being shown at the London film Festival on October 14 if you can’t wait till then.

Pugh made her debut in Carol Morley’s film The Falling, and though it was not a large role, it was clear she had that indefinable star quality. I certainly noticed her — and so has Screen International, which has named her as one of its ‘Stars of Tomorrow’.

Matt Mueller, the magazine’s editor, told me they have a solid track-record for talent-spotting and had picked up on the likes of Emily Blunt, James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch well more they ‘officially popped’.

Pugh and other Stars of Tomorrow — including Morfydd Clark, Tom Taylor, Anthony Boyle and Fionn Whitehead — will be presen ted next week at the BFI LFF.