Zach Braff Used Part Of Florence Pugh's Real Life As Inspiration For A Good Person [Exclusive]

In the new film "A Good Person," Florence Pugh ("Black Widow," "Don't Worry Darling") plays Allison, a young woman whose life is derailed when she is involved in a fatal car accident with her soon-to-be sister-in-law. She spirals into an addiction to oxycontin, and while in recovery, she begins to write songs. Pugh performs them herself in the film, something that, as it turns out, the actor has a history with. 

"A Good Person" is written, directed, and produced by Zach Braff ("Scrubs," "Garden State"), who wrote the role specifically for Pugh, who stars alongside Morgan Freeman, Molly Shannon, Chinaza Uche, and Celeste O'Connor. /Film's own Ethan Anderton recently got a chance to speak to Braff about "A Good Person," and asked him whether or not he worked with Pugh on the lyrics and development of the original songs. 

Braff said of Pugh's songs in the film:

"They're all hers. I had nothing to do with the songs other than say, 'Allison writes a song here.' I know that Florence is a singer and a songwriter, and I knew that she often would use music as a way of journaling to sort of get her emotions out when she was going through something. So I wrote that into the character. I thought, 'What a cool thing to be able to use.' And then I asked Florence if she would write original songs for the movie, and if we could use them for the character. So that was really special because those are completely written by Florence."

Songwriting in character

If the name Flossie Rose sounds familiar to you, you might already know that Pugh has a history with singing. As a younger person, Pugh used to perform as Flossie Rose on her YouTube channel, where she did covers of popular songs like "Wonderwall" from Oasis and played guitar. She's even featured on her brother Toby Sebastian's song "Midnight." (You might also remember him from "Game of Thrones," where he played Trystane Martell.) Pugh recently visited "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon" and spoke about performing songs in "A Good Person." She said: 

"What's cool is, it's the first time I've actually written a song for a character and performed a song as the character, as well. So that was really nice. But then, outside of the movie, I got to record them as how I would like them, as me, as the creator. So when the movie comes out, my songs are gonna be on the soundtrack, as well."

As if Pugh wasn't talented enough already in the acting department.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).