Demi Moore went to 'very vulnerable experience' filming nude scenes
Demi Moore says being naked for 'The Substance' enabled her to "tap into her own vulnerability".
Demi Moore says filming nude scenes in 'The Substance' was a "very vulnerable experience".
The Golden Globe winner is no stranger to sex scenes - having got intimate between the sheets with Rob Lowe in the 1986 flick 'About Last Night - but she says her naked scenes in the satirical body horror film didn't feel "sexualised" and were necessary in order for her to "tap into her own vulnerability" for the role.
Demi plays washed-up fitness guru Elisabeth Sparkle in the Coralie Fargeat flick, who takes a mystery black market drug to create a younger, sexier version of herself called Sue, played by Margaret Qualley.
Asked about the nude scenes, she told Woman magazine: "It was a very vulnerable experience, and we had a lot of conversations around it, but it was taking you to the raw place that you needed to [go].
"On my end, I felt it wasn't sexualised since so many of my scenes were about the experience of being with yourself, and often we are with ourselves nude and it's those moments of our own personal gaze, and self-judgement.
"I think the depth of the vulnerability and where it took me is, in a way, what was needed to help me tap into my own vulnerability."
When it comes to ageing, Demi says she is the opposite of her character because she has learned not to place all her worth on her appearance, though that hasn't always been the case.
Discussing ageism, she said: "That place where she's feeling so rejected, and in such despair, I think there is a part of that where we - not just women - can all connect to on a human level. I've certainly walked through that at different times in my life, where I too have placed too much value on my external self, and not enough on my insides, and where I gave my power away based on being validated on what I look like. Ironically, it was when I was much younger. In particular, the scene where [my character] is at the precipice of being able to get out of her self-imposed prison by going on the date... I think that idea of going there or changing your
outfit and trying to make it better - you can make it worse. Again, I think we've all had moments like that. Haven't we?"
The 'Ghost' star insists all women are conditioned to believe they are worthless once they age.
She explained: "I feel very much that I am not Elisabeth, because she doesn't have any friends or family.
"Everything she has put herself into is her career.
"Relating to the ageing part, I think there is a collective agreement, that is perhaps even unspoken, where up until now, women have been kind of relegated to being sidelined as they would age. Or, as in the film, once your fertility fades, that somehow you are less desirable. And the reality is, we all kind of agreed to that, and it's just not true."
The 62-year-old actress was honoured with the Best Actress Golden Globe for her portrayal of Elisabeth at this month's ceremony.
