Demi Moore

From the Brat Pack to Body Horror, via some of the defining movies of the 80s and 90s, Demi Moore has packed more than most into her five-decade career onscreen. A m0vie star in the truest sense? Absolutely. But a mere ‘popcorn actress’? – as one producer infamously derided her – far from it.

Moore rose to fame in the mid 1980s with prominent roles in the likes 0f Saint Elmo’s Fire and About Last Night. But it was the dawn of the 90s when her career really went supernova, thanks largely to a little film called Ghost.

Playing the straight role is often a thankless task on film, and while Moore is in many ways the emotional lynchpin of Ghost’s tricky comedy-drama balancing act, not to mention a key part of the film’s iconic sexy pottery scene, it was co-star Whoopi Goldberg who swept up the awards for her magnificent comic turn as psychic Oda Mae Brown.

After a string of misfires including Nothin’ But Trouble, Mortal Thoughts and The Butcher’s Wife, Moore’s next major success was in the 1992 legal drama A Few Good Men. The film was a massive box office hit and Moore received positive notices, but once again it was one of her co-stars – this time Jack Nicholson – who soaked up the awards buzz with his more showy performance.

In 1993 Moore soared higher with a lead role in the erotic thriller Indecent Proposal. The film was panned by critics but became a huge box office success, as did her next role in Disclosure, another steamy melodrama beloved more by audiences than awards bodies.

Having established herself as aa major box office draw, Moore’s next film Striptease saw her pull in a record-breaking $12.5 million salary, a fact that was widely commented on when the film was released to savage review – although once again it did turn a sizeable profit. She got better notices two years later in G.I. Jane – one of the roles of which Moore professes to be most proud.

Moving into the 21st century, Moore’s career slowed a little, and other than a memorable turn in the 2003 remake of Charlie’s Angels, few of her subsequent films made much impact with critics or the public.

However, after a long period in the wilderness, everything changed in 2024 when Moore gave a risky, bravura performance in Coralie Fargeat’s  The Substance. A true word-of-mouth hit, The Substance steadily gained momentum from likely cult classic to genuine box office success, and finally, major awards contender.

In January 2025, 44 years after her debut screen credit, Demi Moore received her first Oscar Nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role in The Substance.