Demi Moore, whose The Substance received a 13-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, shared her process of preparing for the film in an interview with Deadline.
"It was about being less in shape in a certain sense as opposed to like — the prep that went into it first and foremost was really emotional and internal. Like really connecting on the deeper level to the desperation and the pain and rejection that Elisabeth is facing at the beginning of this and that kind of depth of fear and self-loathing. So, really it was kind of coming at it from that. This was in a sense for this kind of movie not a huge budget movie, but we shot for four and a half months," said the Ghost actor.
Moore continued, "There was a lot of preproduction of preparing with getting molds and doing all of that because all the prosthetics and a lot of the effects for Coralie were really important that they be practical not as much as of the CGI or the gore. And so, there was a lot that just kind of went into that part of it and time just connecting for Margaret and I since we obviously were playing the same person."
The Substance follows a fading celebrity who decides to use a black market drug. The film will release in the United Kingdom and United States by Mubi on September 20, 2024. Apart from Moore, it stars Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
