How Hailee Steinfeld & Florence Pugh Had Too Much Fun Filming Hawkeye Together

By Russ Milheim Posted:
Marvel, MCU, Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, Yelena Belova, Hailee Steinfeld, Florence Pugh

The next Marvel Studios Disney+ series on the menu is Hawkeye, a story that is set to be a fun Christmas story involving Clint Barton as he cleans up a mess before getting home for the holidays. Not only that, but he will be meeting new expert archer Kate Bishop.

Early reactions to the show are positive, with one of the most commonly praised elements of the show being Hailee Steinfeld's performance as the new MCU hero. Many claim that she is going to quickly become a fan favorite.

Another face set to return in the show is Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova. Last fans saw her, she was being tasked by Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Val to assassinate Clint Barton. So, while it doesn't seem like her time on Hawkeye will be so joyous for those around her, at least it sounds like filming those scenes was a blast.

Steinfeld's Hysterical Time With Black Widow Actress

Hawkeye Yelena Belova
Marvel

During an interview with Cosmopolitan, Hailee Steinfeld talked about her upcoming appearance on Disney+'s Hawkeye. More specifically, she was asked about her time with Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, the next Black Widow who is set to return at some point during the show's run.

Steinfeld mentioned that she "thought [they] had similar energy" on set and recalled "a [really funny] moment together" where a blooper got the better of her:

"Oh, one hundred percent. I honestly felt that right away. And I hope to god she’d say the same thing. Jeez. Now that I say it, I’m like, 'I knew right from the start!' And what if she was like, 'This girl?' No, I think we just had similar energy. We had a moment together where we were shooting and something went wrong. There was no recovering from it. I started laughing so hard that somebody thought I was crying—I don’t know what that says about my laugh—and I just remember a flood of people rushing in and being like, 'Is everyone okay?' And I’m literally facedown on the ground, just hysterically laughing... we really did have a wonderful time together."

Steinfeld clarified that as funny as everything was, the "scene... was in no way, shape or form meant to be at all funny:"

"Mind you, we were in a scene that was in no way, shape, or form meant to be at all funny. We really did have a wonderful time together."

Florence Pugh & Hailee Steinfeld: MCU Best Friends

With all the marketing that Hawkeye has had so far, Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova has been entirely absent from it all with not even so much as a mention of her name. Clearly, Marvel Studios is trying to keep the details of her role as secret as it can before the show's debut.

Despite Steinfeld mentioning how much fun she had on set with Pugh, it is interesting how she felt the need to clarify that the scene in question was not meant to be funny in the slightest––which likely indicates that nothing about Yelena's time on the show will be light-hearted.

Either way, it will be great to see Pugh's Black Widow on the screen once again. Just like Steinfeld was the most commonly praised element of Hawkeye, Yelena Belova was the same for Black Widow. Hopefully, after Yelena, Clint, and Kate make amends, the group can become closer.

Perhaps this is only the start of a strong MCU friendship. Could Kate Bishop become Yelena's best friend like Clint was for Nat? Only time will tell. 

Hawkeye premieres on Disney+ on November 24, 2021.

- About The Author: Russ Milheim
Russ Milheim is the Industry Relations Coordinator at The Direct. On top of utilizing his expertise on the many corners of today’s entertainment to cover the latest news and theories, he establishes and maintains communication and relations between the outlet and the many studio and talent representatives.