Oxford A-lister Florence Pugh hit by feud rumours over new movie

The film, a psychological thriller set in the 1950s, stars Oxford A-lister Ms Pugh and Harry Styles as a picture-perfect couple Alice (Pugh) and her husband Jack (Styles) who live in an experimental community in the desert.

As Alice tries to learn more about her community, tensions begin to arise between her and her new neighbours.

But, according to reports, there was plenty of tension between Ms Pugh  - whose father Clinton owns Cafe Coco, Kazbar and Cafe Tarifa - and director Olivia Wilde.

Gossip about Ms Pugh’s lack posts promoting the film on her social media accounts have been simmering on TikTok and Twitter for some time.

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Other controversies include a dispute over how the actor Shia LaBeouf left the project, later being replaced by Mr Styles, who is Ms Wilde's partner.

In an interview in Variety magazine Ms Wilde did not say she fired Mr LaBeouf but said he had "a combative energy, and I don’t personally believe that is conducive to the best performances.”

In response, Mr LaBeouf sent private emails, texts and video messages to Variety to prove that he actually quit due to lack of rehearsal time.

A video message, in which Ms Wilde tries to convince LaBeouf to stay on as Jack, was subsequently leaked online.

Appearing to hint at friction with Ms Pugh, Ms Wilde says in the clip: “I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo”.

Ms Wilde has become a tabloid fixture since her off-screen relationship with Mr Styles came to light.

She was served custody papers by her ex, Jason Sudeikis, during a presentation about her movie on stage in front of thousands of industry professionals and theatre owners.

The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this week with dozens of Harry Styles fans camped out in front of the theatre.

Many hoped that reports about behind-the-scenes tension would be addressed or clarified at the press conference.

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But though the star of the film, Ms Pugh, who is in the middle of production on Dune 2, a massive blockbuster, did not attend the press conference as her flight had not yet landed.

Ms Wilde, before the premiere, said she did not want to contribute to “the endless tabloid gossip” and “the noise”.

“The internet feeds itself,” Ms Wilde said. “I don’t need to contribute, I think it’s significantly well-nourished.”

Meanwhile Ms Wilde was effusive about her lead actor in an interview with The Associated Press, speaking at length about Ms Pugh’s extraordinary talent saying that what she did with the role was “singularly brilliant” and that the character of Alice is a “heroine for the ages”.

Ms Pugh, who is best known for her Oscar-nominated role in Little Women, went to a private school in Oxford.

Her brother Sebastian appeared in Game of Thrones and performs as singer Toby Sebastian.

Don't Worry Darling is released on September 23.

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