This past Halloween, Demi Moore had a lot to celebrate. Her body-horror film, The Substance, emerged as a costume sensation among a certain cinephilic demographic, having grossed more than $47 million globally and been widely critically acclaimed over the fall. She shared a handful of her favorite Halloween copycats on Instagram, the selection of which subtly illustrated the gonzo range of her performance: Some paid homage to the heavy, hideous prosthetics of the final act; others highlighted the iconic yellow coat that’s inspired several stand-alone articles. Moore got in on the game too, of course, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of her extreme physical transformation in the film. “Today feels like an appropriate day to share them,” she wrote in the post’s caption. “Happy Halloween from Elisabeth Sparkle.”
Since its raucous debut at the Cannes Film Festival, The Substance has become one of the great art house success stories of the year. Coralie Fargeat’s examination of internalized misogyny and ageism, set in a warped version of sunny Los Angeles, allowed Moore to go for broke as Elisabeth, a fading Hollywood star who goes to extreme measures—literally creating a younger version of herself, who goes by Sue (Margaret Qualley)—to reclaim a sense of vitality in an industry obsessed with youth. Seeing an ’80s and ’90s movie icon in Moore, so underserved by the industry of late, taking on the role provides an immediate metatextual resonance. Watching the way she tears into it, embracing all of the role’s dark complexity and delivering a career-best performance in the process, feels cathartic.
For all of her varied experiences in Hollywood—critical hits and duds, box office smashes and bombs—Moore now finds herself in uncharted territory: the Oscar campaign trail. On that road, Moore has already encountered career reevaluations and reflections, a general appreciation for her work that she hasn’t noticed in quite some time. In conversation with Little Gold Men (listen or read below), she opens up about how she’s reexamining that A-list past, leaning into the excitement and promise of the present, and considering what might be next.
Vanity Fair: How have you experienced the life of this movie since Cannes?
Demi Moore: Wow—I mean, I am so blown away at the momentum and the impact that this film has had. I feel like it’s had a deep resonance and really moved people. It’s been thought-provoking, which is always something that is very appealing and attracts me to material, but to see that translate? The part that’s been pure joy and fun—that people have riffed on from the memes, the Halloween costumes—and then on the other side of that to be having such a reflection and acknowledgement for my work, I truly couldn’t have imagined this kind of combination. It just doesn’t always happen this way.
This admiration of your work has really been coming through. Can you just say a little bit more about that, how you’re taking it in?
First of all, I’ve been extremely humbled by that. You get in there to do the work and you never know. You can only hope. I was so grateful to have material that had these levels of unique complexities, because I don’t feel like I’ve had material come along in quite a while that gave me an opportunity to do this kind of work. If I look back to the end of 2021, there was a point where I really was at a crossroads of wondering if this part of my life was complete.
Acting, you mean?
Yeah. Not necessarily an end, but maybe it was complete for me because I wasn’t feeling this sense of challenge with what I was seeing. Nothing felt like it was pushing me to be challenged in a way that elevates you personally, but also elevates you in your work. I wasn’t sure that it felt complete—and if I wasn’t sure, then I knew it meant I had to really put all of my energy and focus into answering that question for myself. What’s interesting is, not too long after that—maybe even within a couple of weeks—this script came across my desk.
Given what you’re saying, I would imagine you’d be surprised then when a script like this comes across your desk.
You’re just kind of going, “All right, let me just see what the universe has. I’m open and ready. Is this where I’m supposed to be?” So to go back to your question about the acknowledgement, I think an added element with the response to this film has been a feeling that my previous work is being reevaluated in a different way. Work that maybe wasn’t given as much interest or thought is being brought back up to the surface, which is really affirming and encouraging. To answer my question, I don’t think that this was complete for me yet.
Some people have a bit more gentle up and down, and some of us have more extremes. This film is just hitting these high levels on a commercial level, on a critical level, and even tapping into something in popular culture in a way that’s— there’s no formula for that. I also was thinking about: In some ways it’s an equal measure to some of my lows.
