With The Substance Demi Moore Proves Reinvention Is Her Superpower

As a teenager growing up in Los Angeles, Demi Moore experienced a defining moment when she first saw her professional potential reflected in another woman. She and Nastassja Kinski, the German-born actor just one year her senior, both lived with their single mothers at the Oakwood Apartments—a complex famous for housing aspiring actors. “I could feel that she had something—this comfort in herself—and I wanted what she had,” Moore recalls. A similar desire to feel confident in one’s skin is central to The Substance. In Coralie Fargeat’s buzzy body horror, Moore plays Elisabeth, an aging fitness icon who, in a desperate attempt to reclaim her youth, injects a drug that allows her to sprout (in a quite literally back-breaking scene) a younger version of herself named Sue, played by Margaret Qualley. The catch? The two selves must adhere to a strict timetable as living beings. When Sue grows greedy, things go terribly awry, leading to the creation of a horrifying and highly meme-able monster, Elisasue. Though the film, which won Best Screenplay at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, ends in chaos for Moore’s character, it has marked a powerful moment of reinvention for the 62-year-old actor, who has not only garnered awards season buzz but also unlocked a new level of confidence.

What attracted you to The Substance?

Reading the script, I was equally moved and blown away. It definitely took some time to process and digest. I think the film is about the fear of what other people think, of not measuring up, that compare and despair. That idea really moved me and made me want to step in and explore the depths of that heartache.

Are you a fan of horror movies?

I wouldn’t say I’m racing out to see traditional horror. I actually could not have named one film that was specifically body horror. I do understand now, but when the script was sent with the description that it was in the category of “phantasmagoric,” I was like, okay.

It’s hard to imagine having one’s back opened up.

That was probably one of the easier things to imagine. But the secondary creation, the Monstro Elisasue, that was a wonderful reveal, as we saw the drawings and then the concepts for her.

In one scene, your character is getting ready for a date and keeps applying her makeup again and again, changing her clothes repeatedly, and then finally does not leave the house. I have been there.

Many of us have! We have all looked in the mirror and tried to perfect something or found something wrong, and as we're trying to make it better, we make it worse. For me, there wasn’t any one moment like that in the film—it was taking that setting and opening myself to a place of grief, self-loathing, and violence against oneself. I think the root of it was beginning with such joy and possibility, only to end with absolute devastation.

Interestingly, you and your costar Margaret Qualley are both Scorpios.

I know! We are one. But Margaret and Demi know how to respect the balance. Obviously, Elisabeth and Sue did not.

What are Scorpios like?

They can be a bit intense. Scorpios are known for having a bit of a sting. They’re somewhat mystical and intuitive, and some are known to be secretive, but I’m so not that. I wish I could be more mysterious.

You were actually in St. Elmo’s Fire with Margaret’s mom, Andie MacDowell. How did that film come into your life?

I know. Isn't that crazy? I was actually auditioning for a John Hughes film. Joel Schumacher spotted me walking down a hallway and sent [St. Elmo’s Fire] cowriter Carl Kurlander to race out and get my name. Then they called me to go in and audition.

Something that not everyone might know about you is that you have a doll collection. What’s the story there?

I do have a contemporary art doll collection. They're not like dolly dolls. They’re not even porcelain. They’re one-of-a-kind, hand-sculpted. I think of them more like sculptures that capture a moment of emotion, but it’s in a miniaturized human being. The very first one that started this was from my then husband, Bruce Willis. I had just had a baby, and he had to leave to do press on a movie. Our daughter was maybe a week old, so he brought this doll by the French artist Anne Mitrani back as a gift. For me, it was something that captured a sense of play or maybe gave me permission to explore a different type of emotion, but I don’t continue to collect.

Do you think you are more like a cat or a dog?

I am a balanced mix. I’m friendlier than a cat. I would say I am a phoenix that has risen from the ashes multiple times in this one lifetime. In that way, I’m more catlike. In Chinese astrology, I am the tiger. That may be my true identity.

Style Director: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Hair for portfolio by Paul Hanlon at Dawes & Co.; makeup for portfolio by Sam Visser at Art Partner; manicures for portfolio by Michelle Saunders James. Set design by Gerard Santos at Lalaland.

Creative producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Leonard Cuinet-Petit at January Productions; producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Kevin Isabelle; produced by AP Studio, Inc.; executive producer: Alexis Piqueras; producer: Anneliese Kristedja; associate producer: Kimmy D’Ancona; production manager: Hayley Stephon; production coordinators: Miranda Dos Santos, Susan Lucas; photography assistants: John Neate, Jed Barnes, Chris Whitaker, Kendall Peck; digital technician: Niccolo Pacilli; digital assistant: Cassian Gray; postproduction by Dreamer Post Production; fashion assistants: Tyler VanVranken, Molly Cody, Celeste Roh, Raea Palmieri, Tatiana Isshac, Haleigh Nickerson, Lauren Marron, Savannah Steilner, Sage McKee, Frankie Benkovic, Kaley Azambuja, Tatum Sanchez; production assistants: Gigi Rosenfield, Lily Cordingley, Eli Cash, Lex Vaughn, Anderson Renno, Kat Saravia, Kyle Dekker, Wyatt Noble, Brandon Martin, Moose Krupski, Josh Muwwakkil, Bradley Gonsalves, Drew Carter, Thomas Lynch, Alex Kofman, Jackson Schrader, Anatalia Zavaleta, Joseph Wride, Matt Flynn; first AD: Steve Kemp; location manager: Kyle Hollinger; hair assistants: Kim Garduno, Ben Gregory, Marco Iafrate, Hyacinthia Faustino, Chris Foster; makeup assistants: Shimu Takanori, Laura Dudley, Brian Dean, Beatrice Sandoval; manicure assistant: Cheyenne Vander Schuur; set design assistants: Seth Powsner, Denver Stoddard, Ryan Johnson; tailors: Irina Tshartaryan, Ripsime Vartanyan, Jackie Martirosyan at Susie’s Custom Designs, Inc.