She didn’t win the award for best female performance (it went to the trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón and Emilia Pérez’s other protagonists) but Demi Moore had her rebirth in Cannes. On the screen, the naked protagonist of Coralie Fargeat’s “feminist” body horror The Substance (screenplay award), at the closing ceremony of the 77th festival she was in the room cheering for the director. The last time she landed in Cannes, way back in 1997, she didn’t have a film in competition but she accompanied her then husband Bruce Willis, star of The Fifth Element, to the Montée des Marches.
Demi Moore, the rebirth
This year Demi not only participated in the competition but was at the center of a sensational relaunch. At 61, the protagonist of cult films of the Nineties such as Ghost and Indecent Proposal has proven to be in such good shape that she can give the public her glorious full-frontal nude look. She also sent a vigorous anti-ageing message: in The Substance she plays a TV aerobics instructor who, fired for being too old, tries to get younger, but she Demi has sworn to live very well with the passing of time. Every evening she shone on the red carpet, wrapped in Schiaparelli’s sculptural dresses, holding her inseparable Chihuahua Pilaf, and did the honors of the house at the Amfar gala where 16 million was raised for AIDS research. «At first I was nervous, I had never had a film in competition at the festival and I didn’t know how to behave», says Demi, «then the enthusiastic response of the public and critics to The Substance filled me with joy. I felt a deep love for cinema.” What did Fargeat’s film represent for you? «A challenge, because I pushed myself outside my comfort zone. In many scenes I am completely naked with Margaret Qualley playing the rejuvenated version of my character.” No embarrassment, though: «We talked for hours and even managed to have fun. On set I felt safe thanks to the presence of Margaret and the director. But to interpret those sequences I needed to feel vulnerable both physically and emotionally.”
Cannes 2024, all the awards: Palme d’Or to Anora by Sean Baker. Jesse Plemons best actor, Gascon first trans best actress
Violence
She had already appeared naked in films such as Andrew Bergman’s Striptease and Adrian Lyne’s Indecent Proposal: is it different if there is a woman behind the camera? «It all depends on the context in which the nude is presented. In The Substance it serves to get the story to the audience and there is no sexualisation.” The violence that punctuates many moments, and which shocked more than one spectator, «was necessary to denounce violence against women. Both the one perpetrated by men and the one that women themselves inflict on themselves when they try to adapt to the aesthetic standards imposed by society.” She doesn’t feel discriminated against because of her age: «The passing of time doesn’t scare me», she assures, «aging is beyond our control and can lead us not to accept ourselves. Coralie talked about all this in an excellent, unique way.” Do you think The Substance will open new doors for you? “Maybe. Meanwhile she allowed me to explore new possibilities. And grow, not only as an actress.”
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