Margaret Qualley on Holding Demi Moore’s Hand “Walking Through Fire” to Film ‘The Substance’
In Coralie Fargeat’s body horror shocker The Substance, Demi Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former A-lister who is unceremoniously fired from her fitness TV show by a loathsome studio boss, played by Dennis Quaid. Feeling defeated, Sparkle can’t resist the draw of an experimental new drug called that promises to reveal a younger and even better version of herself.
If you’ve seen the trailer, then you know what happens next: Sparkle takes the leap, injects herself with the mysterious liquid and literally births the new and improved Elizabeth Sparkle — known as Sue and played by Margaret Qualley — out of her spinal cord. The only rule for the body swap is that they must spend one week in one body and one week in the other with no exceptions. Needless to say, drama and shocks unfold in quick succession.
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Despite the trauma onscreen, Moore and Qualley say their time together couldn’t have been sweeter. “We immediately had a knowing of each other that required very little conversation, and it came with complete ease,” Moore explained to The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s L.A. premiere at the Directors Guild on Monday night. “It’s a rare thing that happens and I think we both just understood [one another].”
Doubling down on their point, Qualley finished Moore’s thought during a brief joint interview. “Demi is one of those people that makes you feel like you know her right away because she’s so warm and open and just so herself. It was an absolute pleasure working with her and being able to hold her hand while walking through the fire.”
To find out what she means by fire, you’ll have to check out The Substance when it opens this weekend courtesy of Mubi. But on the subject of reveals, Fargeat was clear during her red carpet interview that she made sure to not leave any tricks up her sleeve when she pitched the movie to Moore a few years back.
“I really wanted to be sure that she 100 percent understood the movie before jumping in,” explained the Revenge auteur. “I wanted her to know exactly the type of filmmaking it would be, the level of nudity that the part required, the conditions of shooting an indie film in France and the length of the production. I wanted to be sure that she had a very clear picture in her mind so that she could make the right decision for herself and for the film.”
To her surprise, Moore agreed and Fargeat said she couldn’t have found a more collaborative and fearless partner on the film, which has screened at festivals in Cannes and Toronto ahead of its wide release. “I discovered someone that I didn’t knew before, someone who is very rock and roll, very instinctive, very risk taking and very innovating,” Fargeat praised of her leading lady. “She thinks out of the box, and more importantly, she has very strong instincts. And I think she felt like the film was something special, that it was something very new for her. But that could bring something very strong if it was succeeded to be good.
Fargeat continued: “Demi just went for it. She said, ‘Let’s go.’ She doesn’t care anymore and is having an ‘I don’t give a fuck moment.'”
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