There are a lot of tropes that we see playing out in Hollywood, and one of them is that once a female lead passes a certain age or starts to look older, they are discarded by the Hollywood machine.
The body horror hit film The Substance, which came out last year, featured exactly this trope: a Hollywood darling cast aside as she ages and does not fit the needs that Hollywood executives want.
But in real life, the film managed to do something that no one expected… keep reading to learn more.
It is historically known that the Academy in charge of nominations for the Oscars famously does not appreciate horror or horror-adjacent films. Actors and actresses might leave audiences spellbound with their portrayals of characters in such films, but the Academy usually remains unmoved.
When The Substance came out, people did not know what to expect. What viewers saw was a unique body horror film which also used comedic tropes to entertain audiences across the world.
The movie’s plot is simple: a fading Hollywood starlet’s last ditch attempt at remaining relevant (read: youthful). In her blind pursuit of remaining relevant and somehow turning back the hands of time, she embarks on injecting herself with a ‘substance’ that she knows little about but is guaranteed that she will be able to feel younger. But of course, like with most mysterious solutions, there are strings attached to this one too. And in this, she must, “respect the balance.”
Demi Moore’s performance of Elizabeth Sparkle really resonated with fans. When she appeared on The Hollywood Reporters’ Actress Roundtable, her peers, actresses Zoe Saldaña and Tilda Swinton, made sure she knew how much they appreciated her performance. Most importantly, the pivotal scene where her character is getting ready for a night out and keeps rubbing off her makeup, unhappy with how she looks, till she is exceptionally late for the date and decides against going out completely.
Earlier this year, Demi Moore won the Golden Globe Sunday night for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. This was her first award for her acting and her speech was inspiring for a lot of reasons.
She said as she was handed her win, “I’m just in shock right now. I’ve been doing this a long time — like, over 45 years — and this is the first time I’ve ever won anything as an actor. And I’m just so humbled and so grateful.”
She went on revealing something she was told thirty years ago. She said, “Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a popcorn actress. At that time, I made that mean that this wasn’t something that I was allowed to have. That I could do movies that were successful and made a lot of money, but that I couldn’t be acknowledged and I bought in, and I believed that,” she said referring to historic win.
“That corroded me over time, to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it. Maybe I was complete, maybe I’d done what I was supposed to do,” the actress shared. But her delivering a mega hit and critically acclaimed film at 62 years old is not just a personal win but a win for older actresses who buy into the narrative that they are past their prime and, hence, will not be able to book major projects.
The other thing which is so significant about her win is that historically big award shoes tend to ‘snub’ movies in the horror genre. But with The Substance not just getting nominations but also winning awards, this long known fact is also being challenged.
When the Oscar nominations dropped and people saw Demi Moore was nominated for Best Actress, they were shocked! The actress herself seemed to be in disbelief. She said in a statement regarding her nomination, “Being nominated for an Oscar is an incredible honor and these last few months have been beyond my wildest dreams. Truly there are no words to fully express my joy and overwhelming gratitude for this recognition. Not only for me but for what this film represents.”
Tatyana Arrington, an entertainment journalist and pop culture expert had a say on the nomination and what it means for Hollywood. She said, “Demi Moore is having a resurgence right now and it’s great to see it for a film like The Substance. If she does win Best Actress at The Oscars (and I have a feeling she will) the win even the nomination alone serves as an ode to Toni Collette in “Hereditary”, Lupita Nyongo in “US”, Florence Pugh in “Midsommar” and so many incredible performances that are often overlooked in the horror genre.”
Arrington also believes that audiences are rooting for Moore, she told us, “It’s a part of the reason I think general audiences want Demi to win. The fact that we can count on our hands how many horror films have been nominated for Best Picture but would need more than our fingers and toes to count the snubs says a lot about what The Academy thinks of horror films. Horror films are often seen as jump scares and cheap thrills. Storylines in horror films don’t have to be “good” because the goal is to provide a scare.”
All in all, it seems a lot of people are hoping that Demi Moore wins and gets her long-awaited recognition for her acting talent. What do you think of Demi Moore’s win and recognition so far in the award season? Let us know in the comments.
