Hollywood’s ageism and impossible beauty standards are a tale as old as time, but the tale is about to get a gruesome upgrade in The Substance. Coralie Fargeat’s upcoming body horror feature about an A-list female star being discarded by the industry and desperate to cling to youth invokes a meta quality by casting Demi Moore as its lead. “The part needed to be embodied by an actress who was a symbol herself,” Fargeat tells Variety in a new piece about Moore. “But I knew those kinds of actresses would be frightened by jumping into something that confronts them with their own phobias. Demi was at a stage in her life where she has confronted all the fears her character has and the violence and self-hatred it can bring on you. She has processed all that in a peaceful way.”
Moore is indeed quite zen about suffering the slings and arrows of stardom, though she admits she’s “not perfect” and still occasionally suffers from body image issues. In fact, she took on “certain projects” like Striptease or her Vanity Fair covers to give herself “an opportunity to help me overcome insecurities about my body,” she says. At the height of her fame, a producer “referred to me as a ‘popcorn actress’—meaning I’m not a critically acclaimed kind of actress,” she recalls. “It’s interesting, because that has stayed with me, holding that perception against myself. But there are a lot of my films that I don’t feel got any kind of consideration in that regard.”
Oddly, some of that lack of recognition seems to be precisely because she was, at the time, “the highest-paid actress” in Hollywood. “That moment was so powerful for me because it wasn’t just about me; it was about changing the playing field for all women. But because I was portraying a stripper, I betrayed women. And because I played a soldier, I betrayed men,” she says. “The narrative quickly became ‘Well, she’s only getting paid that number because she’s playing a stripper.’ It hit me really hard. But at the same time, I understood that anybody who steps out first is going to take the hit. That goes for anybody challenging the status quo.”
All this to say, Moore was well aware how “relatable” the story of The Substance is. It didn’t change her perspective on aging, “But it gave me a greater appreciation for myself as I am,” she says. “One of the biggest themes of my career is challenging preconceived ideas and limitations. I’m at a point where I’m writing my own story, as opposed to my story being dictated to me based on my age.” You can read the full interview here.