Cannes

By DJ Cook

American actress and producer Demi Moore makes her return to Cannes after 27 years. This year, she is hosting the amfAR gala. Moore is excited to come back to Cannes and see how far things have come since the last time she visited the festival. In regards to returning and hosting the event, Moore said, “I felt like it was the perfect way to complete my visit.”

Also this year, Demi Moore stars in the in-competition film The Substance, which premieres tonight, May 18th, in the Grand Auditorium Lumière. “I feel extremely humbled,” Moore said. The American film features a French director and is in English. Thus, Moore explains, “the film encompasses everything the festival represents.” Tonight is the first time Moore will see it completed.

The Substance is a body-horror, phantasmagoric film. It has moments of thrill and misshapen aspects. Though there is also something for the viewers who are “looking for something that has a deeper meaning.”

How did you prepare to take on this different role?

“First,” she said, “I ground with an interior connection to who the character is.” Moore, who plays Elisabeth Sparkle in the premiere film, donned a lot of prosthetics for this role. She found it fun to explore different aspects of herself. “It’s not glamorous; I’ll just warn you,” she joked.

You said you didn’t have a blueprint for your career; can you talk about that?

“I didn’t have a blueprint for life,” Moore responded. Her life, let alone her career, was never what she could’ve foreseen. “I had to figure out a lot on my own.” This led to a great sense of independence and determination. She said that she had “no safety net, but also nothing to lose.” Moore felt that, like that, life can be “perfectly designed to get us where we are in the present moment.”

Ghost (1990): How did you handle all the buzz surrounding that movie?

Ghost was an early career-building movie for Moore. She responded, “you never get used to it, but it becomes more familiar.” Moore has found ways to cope with the fame. “I’ve figured out how to stay grounded, like with my family.” Moore has three children, all born to father Bruce Willis. She continued, “Keep what’s important close. What I do isn’t who I am; it’s just what I do.”

If These Walls Could Talk (1996)

Demi Moore starred in and produced this controversial film. If These Walls Could Talk is an American anthology film of three different stories that all take place in the same house in 1952, 1974, and 1996. The movie tells the story of three women and their experiences with abortion. The film “let us illustrate the challenges of the 50s, the 70s, and the 90s,” Moore explained. They wanted to keep it framed around unwanted pregnancy.

The project was turned down by many studios. Eventually, taking a large risk, HBO accepted the project. This was during the early days of the film network. Moore went on to say, “it didn’t feel risky for me to do; it felt important.” Her character, Claire Donnelly (spoiler alert), tragically dies after an at-home illegal abortion. Moore explains that she wanted her character’s experience to be “a cautionary tale of what could happen if we don’t support women’s health.”

What role scared you the most?

“Probably this one,” Moore said, referring to her role in The Substance. She continued, “it’s an unfamiliar genre.”

Otherwise, her role in Striptease (1996), but in a different way. In the movie, Moore’s character, Erin Grant, loses custody of her seven-year-old daughter after divorcing her husband. To get the money to try to get custody of her daughter, Erin, a former FBI secretary, becomes a stripper. “For me,” Moore explained, “it was about a woman who was trying to survive and take care of her daughter.”

Controversial subjects such as this truly illustrate the impact of “external judgments we put on others.” Moore continued, “life isn’t black and white; it’s gray.” Moore received $12.5 million for her role in Striptease. It was unprecedented at the time, making her the highest-paid actress in film history.

All roles she pursues “have to have that fear. If I look at something and it scares me a little bit, then I think there’s something in it.” She asks herself, “does it say something that will make a difference?” Moore searches for roles that are thoughtful and thought-provoking. She said, “I look for roles that push me.” 

Demi Moore recently wrote and published her memoir Inside Out in 2019.

Demi Moore was very raw and candid in her book. Moore explained, “If I’m going to share a portion of my life, then it needs to be on a very human level. Even if my story only has one person who can relate to it, then it's worth it.”

Moore had an unusual childhood. For instance, her dad left her 18-year-old mother before she was born, Moore moved out of her family home at 16 years old, and she quit high school her junior year to work. She reflected back on her life and asked herself, “how did I get here?” The book was “an exploration of how I got here,” Moore said. It was a cathartic process. It led her to have deeper insight and appreciation for people, like her parents.

Moore’s take on television acting

“I love the long form,” she said. “It’s like a novel.” She continued, “as an actor, television allows you to have a character you can explore in greater depth.”

Landman (upcoming)

Landman occurs in “a very interesting world,” Moore described. It takes place in the booming town of Fort Worth, Texas. The series explores “a subculture we haven’t seen” in media like this. Moore plays an oil tycoon’s wife. “The substance of it is also in exploring the issues surrounding petroleum,” she continued, such as its mining, sale, use, and more. Moore has completed filming for the first season, and is “excited to start the second.”

What does it feel like to be a part of projects with strong casts and lots of anticipation?

“It feels good,” she said confidently. She pauses. Oftentimes, she explained, the cast “spends more time together doing press than we actively do working.”

What do you feel is your most underrated film?

“G. I. Jane.” Moore answered. She feels this film didn’t get its due. “In part,” she explained, “because I was the highest-paid actress at the time.” Moore was paid $11 million for this 1997 film role. This was shortly after her record-breaking $12.5 million for Striptease in 1996. The film asks the question: who makes it as a navy seal and who doesn’t? Moore goes on, “It’s all mental. That has no gender.” It was very similar, Moore felt, to debates over her salary as an actress in the film industry.

Looking ahead, is there anything you want to get into?

“I don’t like to project too much into the future,” Moore said. “If I limit it, it might limit the possibilities of what could come in.”

What would you tell your 16-year-old self?

“Your value isn’t on the outside; it’s who you are on the inside,” Moore said. “There’s no such thing as perfect.” She told a story that a former mentor told her when she was young and struggling about not being perfect. “Do you know anyone perfect?” The mentor asked. Moore answered no. “Do you know anything that’s perfect?” Again, no. Moore concludes, echoing the words of her mentor decades ago, “then why would I want to be no one and nothing?”