Ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of We Live in Time on Friday, Sept. 6, director John Crowley told PEOPLE exclusively that he was “stunned“ Pugh shaved her head for the role. The director, 55, said that before Pugh committed to the cut, he brainstormed ways to give her a shaved-head look with the hair and makeup department.

Early reviews of director John Crowley’s new film, We Live In Time, have been positive, calling it “transcendently life-affirming” and praising the chemistry between its stars, Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, as “achingly palpable.” ( The Hollywood Reporter) Pugh agrees and says the movie had a major impact on her.

British actress Florence Pugh has revealed that shaving her head for her latest movie role was a “really bizarre” experience that sent her body “into a bit of trauma.”