Little Women star Florence Pugh defends 20 year age gap with boyfriend Zac Braff

Actress Florence Pugh plays Amy in Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women. Photo / AP

Florence Pugh has hit back at criticism of the 20-year age gap between her and boyfriend Zach Braff.

The 23-year-old actress met the 44-year-old actor when they worked on the short film In the Time It Takes to Get There together and they were first spotted out together in April.

After Zach commented with a princess emoji on one of Florence's Instagram pictures, one person wrote: "you're 44 years old".

Florence was not impressed with the person trying to shade their relationship and she wrote back "And yet he got it".

This is the first time Florence or Zach have publicly acknowledged their relationship.

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First pit-stop, Matzo Ball soup. #curingjetlag101

A post shared by Florence Pugh (@florencepugh) on Dec 27, 2019 at 10:39pm PST

Meanwhile, Florence - who has had a stellar year with Fighting With My Family, Midsommar, and Little Women - previously revealed she had vowed never to work in Los Angeles again after being "ripped apart" when she was cast in a TV pilot called Studio City alongside Heather Graham and Eric McCormack.

Reflecting on her debut experience working with director Carol Morely on 'The Falling', she said of Studio City: "I went from being on this little feature where women were praised for looking the way they were and not knowing or caring about our best angles.

"Suddenly everything I was, everything Carol loved me for - my looks, who I am as a person - was getting ripped apart.

"When you go out there [LA] as a baby-face, fresh thing who is eager to please, they will make you into whatever they need to make you sell, essentially.

"You need to know exactly what you are representing when you go into meetings so if someone says, 'That's really cool you don't pluck your eyebrows', that you don't f***ing, like, die and whimper.

"'No I don't want you to cut my hair. No I don't want you to wax my upper lip. I have a face and hair grows out of it. Please leave me alone.' "

After doubting her own ambitions, the 23-year-old star bounced back with the role of Katherine in Lady Macbeth and admitted the fact she was frequently nude for the part helped her confidence.

She explained: "Katherine changed everything. I loved the fact she was naked all the time.

"At that point in my life I had been made to feel s**t about what I looked like and that film was perfect, there was no room for me to feel insecure."