2019 was a big year for Florence Pugh. Between breakout roles in Midsommar and Little Women (for which she earned an Oscar nomination), Pugh has been a fresh face in the Hollywood circuit. What’s less known about the up-and-comer is her relationship of nearly a year with Scrubs star Zach Braff, who is 21 years her senior. Now, they’re officially fostering a puppy together in quarantine. Below, everything we know about the low-key couple so far.
August 2018: In the fall of 2018, Braff began liking photos of Pugh on Instagram. This could have been around the time he cast her in his 2019 short film In The Time It Takes to Get There or an early signifier of their relationship.
March 2019: Collider.com reported that Braff and Pugh were both circling the movie The Secret Ingredients of Rocket Cola. Braff was attached to direct the project with Pugh in the lead role, although the title can no longer be found on either of their IMDb pages.
April 2019: At the beginning of April, In The Time It Takes to Get There is released. In the project, made for Adobe Cloud from a design contest winner’s idea, Pugh plays a 19th-century influencer. She co-stars alongside Alicia Silverstone (Clueless), who works for the young mogul.
On April 12, Pugh and Braff were spotted strolling through New York City while holding hands, per E!. The relationship came after Braff’s 2014 split from model Taylor Bagley after five years of dating.
June 2019: Braff shared a photo of himself alongside Toby Sebastian, a musician, Game of Thrones actor, and Pugh’s older brother. “#cheers #🇬🇧,” he captioned a selfie of the pair toasting glasses of wine to the camera.
October 2019: Pugh’s debut on Braff’s feed arrived with quite the sentiment. She can be seen in a group shot captioned, “People I love.” Emmy winner Julia Garner commented on the post, “I love @florencepugh too!!!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️”
That same month, Page Six captured the couple on a Whole Foods run in Hollywood. A source told the outlet, “It was very clear to me that they’re a couple.”
November 2019: Technically, their IG couple debut hit the following month. In Braff’s post, the pair could be seen with a group visiting Disneyland.
Pugh and Braff also showed up at the L.A. premiere of Marriage Story on November 5, although they weren’t photographed together.
Axelle/Bauer-GriffinGetty Images
Axelle/Bauer-GriffinGetty Images
December 2019: Braff and Pugh attended the NYC premiere of her film Little Women separately, robbing us yet again of an official joint red carpet appearance.
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On December 28, Pugh gifted the world a late Christmas present: a relationship confirmation and clap back all rolled into one. “First pit-stop, Matzo Ball soup. #curingjetlag101,” she captioned a photo of her posing outside an L.A. deli. Braff responded to the photo with the princess emoji. A commenter replied to Braff’s emoji by writing, “You’re 44 years old.” Then-23-year-old Pugh responded, “and yet he got it👌🏽.”
January 2020: On January 11, People spotted the pair driving from a date at San Vicente Bungalows, a private social club in Los Angeles.
Days later, Pugh was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2020 Oscars. Braff seemed to play a sizable role in the day. She posted two photos of herself finding out about the nomination in bed where she appears to be unclothed. (Many assumed Braff took the pictures.)
Later that day, Braff posted a photo of Pugh getting her hair and makeup done to his Instagram Story with the caption, “Holy shit!”
People also obtained photos of the pair celebrating Pugh’s nomination with a kiss as she clutched a bottle of champagne.
February 2020: Pugh attended the Academy Awards on February 9 with her parents by her side. (No red carpet debut as a couple this time!) But Braff documented the actress’s pre-awards show rituals on his Instagram Stories.
March 2020: People spotted the couple taking extra precautions while out on a walk in Los Angeles during the coronavirus pandemic. Both Braff and Pugh can be seen wearing gloves while out for a grocery run. According to the outlet, Pugh arrived at the store on the back of Braff’s motorcycle.
A few days later, Braff announced on Instagram that he and former Scrubs co-star Donald Faison would launch a weekly recap podcast titled Fake Doctors, Real Friends With Zach + Donald. “WOOOOOOO!!!!👌🏽🤟🏼🍕🙃,” Pugh commented on her boyfriend’s post.
April 2020: Fans noticed that Pugh and Braff appear to be fostering a dog together during coronavirus quarantine. On April 2, both of them posted about a puppy they’re fostering named Billie, crediting Los Angeles-based animal rescue org Labelle Foundation in their posts.
