Demi Moore Gets Candid About Physical Toll Of Shooting Her Graphic New Body Horror

The Ghost star said the "intensity" of her new film The Substance had an effect on her health.
Demi Moore in The Substance
Demi Moore in The Substance
Christine Tamalet

Early critics have said that Demi Moore’s new body horror The Substance makes for difficult viewing – and the woman herself has said it was no walk in the park to shoot, either.

The Ghost actor takes the lead in Coralie Fargeat’s new film, which centres around a fading Hollywood star who uses an illicit substance to create a younger duplicate of herself.

After the film’s premiere at Cannes, critics highlighted graphic violence and nudity featured in The Substance, with Demi disclosing in a new interview that the shoot really took it out of her.

“To give you an idea of the intensity, my first week that I actually had off, where it was just Margaret [Qualley, who plays Demi’s younger counterpart] working, I got shingles,” she told the LA Times.

“And I then lost, like, 20 pounds.”

Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore at a photo-call
Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore at a photo-call
via Associated Press

Margaret Qualley experienced physical side effects of her own from the film, disclosing that she “had crazy acne for a full, long-ass time” afterwards.

“[It] just required, I think, going into it with a sensitivity and a lot of conversation,” she explained. “I think finding that common ground of mutual trust [helps].”

Demi continued: “I had someone who was a great partner who I felt very safe with. We obviously were quite close in certain moments, naked, and it allowed us also a lot of levity … at how absurd those certain situations were, with us lying on the tile floor.”

The Substance hits UK cinemas on Friday 20 September.

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