Demi Moore's real personality revealed as co-star opens up about working with her

Demi Moore’s real personality revealed as co-star opens up about working with her

Last updated: 2024/11/24 at 4:02 PM

When film director Coralie Fargeat was looking for two actresses to play “two faces of the same coin” – but with a 30-year age difference – she chose Demi Moore, 61, and Margaret Qualley, 30. Not that the two remotely resemble one another.

Margaret plays a younger version of Demi in the show

According to the French feminist filmmaker, it was more about selecting “two powerful actresses” who could handle the physical and symbolic demands of her body horror movie, The Substance.

In the film, Demi’s fading celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle – sacked from her daily TV show after turning 50 – takes a black-market drug; a substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself. Enter Margaret’s sexy Sue, a young woman who is both angelic and libidinous.

Margaret's dance training came in useful for the role — Margaret’s dance training came in useful for the role

The daughter of Green Card and Four Weddings and a Funeral star Andie MacDowell, one might imagine Margaret always dreamed of following in her mum’s footsteps although, in truth, she initially trained as a ballet dancer – a skill which helped her enormously in portraying TV work-out star Sue.

Like her mum, she found herself in big demand as a model, making her catwalk debut at New York Fashion Week at the tender age of 16.

Margaret has worked as a model but her passion is acting

By time she turned 18, she had switched her focus from ballet to drama, and she quickly gained notice with roles in The Nice Guys, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Kinds of Kindness.

But The Substance – and its themes about how women’s bodies are scrutinized, fantasized about and criticized in the public forum – really struck a chord with Margaret, even if she is still too young to have experienced the brutal rejections associated with ageism.

“I think one of the reasons why I gravitated towards this was because it’s talking about topics that, unfortunately, are super present in everybody’s lives – but in this kind of elegant, fantastical way that makes it exciting,” says the actress who spent five months making the film in Paris.

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“I grew up a dancer, and then I modelled, and then started acting. In every single step of the path, there’s been an incredible amount of pressure on the idea of being perfect, especially within the dance world, where there’s a very specific thing that you’re reaching towards.”

Born in Montana, then moving to North Carolina as a child, Margaret and her older brother Justin, and musician/actress sister Rainey, enjoyed an idyllic childhood between their divorced parents – Andie and Paul Qualley, a rancher and former model.

andie macdowell with daughters rainey and margaret qualley — Andie with her daughters Rainey and Margaret

After dating actors Nat Wolff, Pete Davidson and Shia LaBeouf, Margaret found her own rom com happy ending 15 months ago when she wed Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Jack Antonoff in New Jersey.

Margaret’s role comes almost 40 years after her mum starred alongside Demi in coming-of-age drama St Elmo’s Fire and she says the actress did not disappoint.

“There isn’t a more committed actress, more hardworking, compelling actress . . . or supportive,” she says. “She’s fantastic to work with. And so, I’m just trying to keep up.”

To read the full interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.

The Substance is streaming on Netflix

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