When Demi Moore took the stage at the 2025 Golden Globes to accept the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her role in The Substance, she began her speech with an emotional moment. She shared a personal story, mentioning that before landing this role, she had started to believe she was just a “popcorn actress,” a notion once told to her by a producer. However, portraying Elisabeth Sparkle in the horror drama described as “magical, daring, unforgettable, and utterly deceptive” gave Moore the chance to reinvent herself and helped her rediscover the integrity and love that had always guided her.
These sentiments reflected comments Moore had shared earlier in her cover story for ELLE US in November 2024, where she was honored as one of ELLE’s Women in Hollywood. She explained how, throughout her career, she had changed her body to fit roles, and though she may not have always been fully aware of it, she had consistently sought opportunities to find peace and love for herself. “And when I found that,” Moore said, “it was only by truly surrendering and letting go of what things should look like on the outside.”
Speech:
*”Oh wow. I truly didn’t expect this. I’m just in shock right now.
I’ve been doing this for a long time, over 45 years, and this is the first time I’ve won something as an actor. And I’m so humbled and so grateful.
Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me I was a ‘popcorn actress,’ and at that time, I let it mean that this [award] wasn’t something I was allowed to have. That I could make films that were successful, that made a lot of money, but I couldn’t be recognized, and I bought into that. I believed it.
And it gnawed at me over time, to the point where a few years ago, I thought maybe that was it. Maybe I was done. Maybe I’d done what I was meant to do.
And while I was at a low point, this magical, daring, bold, out-of-the-box, absolutely astonishing script called The Substance landed on my desk. And the universe told me I wasn’t done. And I am so grateful to [director] Coralie [Fargeat] for trusting me to play and embody this woman. To Margaret [Qualley], for being my other half without whom I couldn’t have done this, for seeing me. To the people who have been with me for more than 30 years… all the people who stood by me, especially those who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.
And I’ll leave you with just one thing I think this film offers: In those moments when we think we’re not smart enough or pretty enough, or thin enough or successful enough, or fundamentally just not enough. I had a woman tell me, ‘Just know, you will never be enough. But you can know the value of your worth if you simply set the measuring stick.’
And so today I celebrate this as a marker of my wholeness and the love that drives me, and for the gift of doing something I love and being reminded that I belong. Thank you so much.”
CREATED by:
“KORÇA BOOM”
