Today is a good day for Demi Moore; it started with the crack-of-dawn announcement of a Golden Globe nomination for best actress — one of four for her Cannes hit The Substance — and will end with an evening soirée to celebrate her lifetime achievement award at the San Francisco Film Festival. It’s part of a ride that began in May, with one of the most riotous screenings in the history of Cannes, and shows no signs of stopping as awards season slips into fifth gear.
Coralie Fargeat’s jaw-dropping gory horror-comedy is one of the year’s biggest surprises, revealing just how far Moore is willing to go — and on this evidence, that means all the way. She plays Elizabeth Sparkle, a former movie star who hosts a popular fitness show. All is fine until Sparkle commits the crime of turning 50, inspiring the show’s producer (an equally game Dennis Quaid), to fire her and start the hunt for a younger, hotter replacement.
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Entering a spiral of self-loathing, Elizabeth discovers what at first glance appears to be the elixir of life; a drug that causes her body to split into two, creating a version of her younger self. This new incarnation, Sue, played by Margaret Qualley, is ferociously ambitious and immediately turns on her host, taking Elizabeth’s old job and soon discovering the downside of going against nature.
Here, Moore reacts the news of her nomination, alongside nods for her co-star Qualley and director.
DEADLINE: You must be thrilled. What’s your reaction to the nomination this morning?
DEMI MOORE: I’m in shock and awe, and… Really, I just feel so much joy, I have to say. I mean, this was a risky project from the beginning, with really no certainty of how it would all come together. And so to see the journey it’s been on, and to have this acknowledgement, I just think is such a win on so many levels and I’m so excited for Margaret, too. I would say it’s been hard earned, obviously, if you’ve seen the film.
DEADLINE: I have. Twice.
MOORE: It’s just wonderful.
DEADLINE: When you first got the script, did you foresee anything like this happening? What were your first expectations for the film?
MOORE: My only expectation, really, was just the exploration of the emotional subject matter. I mean, I read the script and I was captivated and I thought that it had the potential to be something amazing — but it equally had the potential to be a disaster. It was really asking a lot and going to places that were so extreme. I didn’t know [which way it would go], but I knew that it was worth the risk. I knew it was worth stepping into, and it was a role for me that had nuances and complexities and, most importantly, had a depth that was meaningful. And for me, that’s what my hope always is.
I don’t ever have expectations of what something will end up being, in a tangible way, but I do have a hope for what it will feel like. My hope is that it will be meaningful and memorable, and the journey [with this film] continues to be that. And this moment is really just a lovely little uplift in that process, a real joyous celebration.
DEADLINE: Was that the first time you had a film in competition at Cannes? How many films have you had in Cannes before The Substance?
MOORE: That’s the only one!
DEADLINE: Were you surprised by the reaction it had there. What reactions have you had personally, particularly in public screenings?
MOORE: This is a film that’s brought people into the cinema who really wanted that communal experience. If you’ve sat in on one of my Q&As, there are people who’ve seen it, like, three or four times. That was such an unexpected part of this, where people process and want to go back for that kind of visceral experience. Even down on a more personal, one-on-one level, people come up to me. In particular, I had one experience of someone coming up and really expressing their appreciation for the film, for it giving them an opportunity to stop and really reevaluate how they were treating themselves and wanting to be a little more kind, gentle, and loving to themselves. I think if I had any expectation for the film, it would’ve been that.
DEADLINE: What has it done for you personally? Has made you more willing to take risks? If you’d seen this film with another actress in it, what would you have felt?
MOORE: Well, I don’t know. I don’t know because it wasn’t someone else! [Laughs.] I feel like, if I look back, I have something of a history of taking on more risky, unusual, thought-provoking, if not provocative films. And I just hadn’t felt that there was something that had come my way that you could say that I had found — but also found me — in a long time. And so this really was the opportunity that I had been waiting for. It gave me an opportunity to really show, and be able to do, the kind of work that I really love. And, more importantly, it reminded me how much I love what I do.
DEADLINE: What impressed you about Coralie as a director?
MOORE: Everything. Even just the script alone, what she presented. She is such an incredible, visual and symbolic storyteller, and I think her courage to go to these kind of extreme places is quite unusual and certainly not what’s associated with a female director.
DEADLINE: What are you going to do next?
MOORE: Well, maybe I’m going to get a little sleep. [Laughs.] No, you know what? I’m a real believer in not projecting too much into the future, but really just staying in the present and really just being in the joy and gratitude of where I am right in this moment.
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