Demi Moore Reveals Why She Nearly Stepped Away from Acting Before Landing Golden Globe-Nominated Role in The Substance
Demi Moore has shared why she nearly left acting before landing her Golden Globe-nominated role in The Substance. The 2024 body horror film, directed by Coralie Fargeat, stars Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, a faded Hollywood star who turns to a black-market drug to regain her youth, unleashing a grotesque and horrifying consequence. Margaret Qualley co-stars as Sue, Elisabeth’s younger, better version of herself.
During an Actress Roundtable with the Los Angeles Times, Moore opened up about her struggles with the film industry that almost caused her to leave entirely before she was cast in The Substance. A major star of the 1980s and 1990s, Moore is best known for iconic roles in Blame It on Rio, A Few Good Men, and Indecent Proposal. Despite her early success in Hollywood, she explained how she hit a creative wall and began to question her place in the industry.
Moore reflected on this challenging period, saying, “I went through a period where I didn’t quite find where I belonged. The material I was seeing, it was like nothing was bad, but nothing was great. My question became, is this part of my life complete? Have I done what I was supposed to do here? And then I realized that if I didn’t have the answer to that question, I have to then inject the focus and energy to answer that question…”
Moore’s career experienced a resurgence with The Substance, a film that premiered to critical acclaim at Cannes, where Fargeat won Best Screenplay. The film, known for its shocking practical effects and biting commentary on society’s obsession with youth, marks Moore’s most powerful film role in years. Her transformation into a fearless form of self-parody as Elisabeth Sparkle shines in The Substance.
The film’s body horror center and MOre’s portrayal of a character grappling with Hollywood’s harsh beauty standards, which closely mirrors her own journey of questioning her place in the entertainment industry, highlight the challenges of sustaining relevance in an industry that does not award aging on-screen women the same longevity and acclaim their male counterparts have always been given. The Substance not only revitalized Moore’s career but also showed the importance of meaningful roles for seasoned female actors in an industry that often sidelines bold, auteur-driven projects for the next superhero film or video game adaptation.