On paper, We Live in Time seems thoughtfully formulated to be the perfect tearjerker for today. John Crowley, the celebrated helmer of the stunning Saoirse Ronan romance Brooklyn, teams with heralded actors/internet darlings Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield in a weepy romance of wooing and tragic loss.

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.

Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh react to the "We Live in Time" horse meme — if they can even agree on whether the image is in their new movie.

In the new movie, Florence Pugh will squeeze all the tears out of the audience. For the role of a woman with cancer, she decided to shave her head. However, as it turns out, the actress's decision was not driven solely by the acting challenge.

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." The 28-year-old had to lose her hair for We Live in Time,

In an interview with British Vogue, Florence Pugh speaks out on the comments about her body and confidence—and how they’ve impacted her.