Demi Moore has revealed she had to film 45 “very difficult” takes of a “heartbreaking” scene in her new film – The Substance. Moore plays Elizabeth Sparkle in the upcoming horror movie. In the film, Sparkle is a fading celebrity who is exposed to a black market drug that temporarily creates a younger version of herself.
There is a scene in the film where Moore’s character is getting ready to go on a date and, fearing to look old, she goes in front of a mirror and applies makeup and then removes it and applies it again. The 61-year-old actress admitted that something inside her “broke” while filming the scene.
“It was very difficult. It’s one of the most heartbreaking moments in the movie,” Moore told Variety.
Moore added that everyone can agree with “trying to make themselves look better” when they actually “make it worse.” “Coralie liked to do a lot of takes, and my face was absolutely raw,” Moore recalled, referring to the film’s director Coralie Fargeat. “I got to a point where I couldn’t do it any more. And Coralie still wanted one more take.”
Moore said it was then that the makeup artist “intervened” and said, “’We’re done.’” She added that shooting the scene involved “a kind of madness.”
“There are three setups for that scene and easily 15 takes for each one,” Moore said. “Also, the idea of looking at yourself in the mirror and only seeing what’s wrong—it’s like you’re trying to make yourself uglier just so you can look the way you feel.”
‘Who says someone can’t look a certain way or do a certain thing?’
Moore said she’s proud of where she is now in her career, now that she’s grown up. “There’s not a lot of difference between before and after,” she said. “But it has given me a greater appreciation for myself. The biggest theme in my career is challenging prejudices and boundaries. I’ve gotten to a point where I’m writing my own story, not having my story told to me based on my age.”
Moore emphasized that age should never limit a person’s abilities. “Who says a person can’t look a certain way or do certain things? Being in your 60s isn’t what it used to be,” she said. “There’s a part of me that’s enjoying figuring it out as I go along.”
Moore also admitted that she believed she faced “more challenges” during her career in her 40s than she does currently. “At that time, no one knew what to do with me,” she said. “I wasn’t 30, but I wasn’t 40 enough for people to easily recognize me as a mother, etc. There was no place for me.”
Moore said she thinks Hollywood now offers more roles for middle-aged women. “We see a lot more interesting roles for women in their 40s and 50s — what I would call “young women,” she said. “‘The Substance’ is scathing in the way it tackles the entertainment industry, its judgments and its beauty standards. But it also confronts Hollywood with the idea that a woman’s desirability ends with her fertility.”
