Demi Moore Recalled Facing “Heightened” Scrutiny Over Her Body After A “Charlie’s Angels” Bikini Scene In Her 40s
Demi Moore recalled how conversations about her body changed in Hollywood after turning 40.
In case you’ve not heard, Demi is gearing up for an acting comeback in The Substance, a forthcoming body horror film all about beauty standards, aging, and toxic masculinity.
It stars 61-year-old Demi as a Hollywood star turned TV host, who, after being shunned from the industry for her age, decides to take a drug called the Substance, which spawns a younger “better version” of herself — played in the movie by Margaret Qualley.
The Substance — which hits theaters Sept. 20 — has received a ton of hype since it premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May. And now, in conversation with Michelle Yeoh for Interview magazine, Demi got real about her experience with aging in the limelight and how the film is a “reflection of our human condition.”
“At the core of it, what it’s really about is what we do to ourselves, and I loved that it was illustrated in such a physical way,” Demi began, saying that what initially stood out to her about the script was the “unique way” it explored issues of aging, “societal conditioning,” and “the pressure of the male-idealized woman that we as women have bought into.”
Talking more specifically about how the script resonated with her, Demi recalled facing more scrutiny over her appearance when she entered her 40s in the early 2000s.
“What’s interesting is I felt [the criticism] more when I hit my forties,” she said before calling back to a specific scene she did in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, which came out in 2003, around the time she began dating Ashton Kutcher.
“There was a lot of conversation around this scene in a bikini, and it was all very heightened, a lot of talk about how I looked,” she said. “And then I found that there didn’t seem to be a place for me. I didn’t feel like I didn’t belong. It’s more like I felt that feeling of, I’m not 20, I’m not 30, but I wasn’t yet what they perceived as a mother.”
Notably, Demi — who, at this point, was already mom to three daughters with Bruce Willis — confessed that the criticism left her questioning if she even “fit in” in Hollywood anymore, saying, “It was a time that felt, not dead, but flat.”
In response, Michelle — who is only a few months older than Demi — agreed that “Hollywood is cruel to women of that age.”
“It’s either, you are the mother or you’re old enough not to be sexy in their eyes. It’s like, why can’t a 45-year-old, a 50-year-old, or 60-year-old, be sexy?” the Oscar-winner continued. “But that whole perception is undergoing a lot of change because people like you and me won’t sit back and just take it.”
While discussing The Substance at a Cannes press conference in May, Demi opened up about having to come to terms with the “vulnerability and rawness” of her own body while shooting the film’s explicit nude scenes — including a “naked, no-holds-barred bloody fight” between her and Margaret’s characters.
“I look for things that push me out of my comfort zone, the opportunity to make a better person and actor,” she said. “This touched on so many themes that we all face: We seek validation and belonging. By doing [the movie], it takes us to extremes and allows us to step into it in a unique way.”
“Through the process of the film, I think I came out with greater acceptance of myself than I am,” she added.
Here’s the trailer for The Substance. And this is where you can read Demi’s full conversation with Michelle for Interview magazine.
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