Coralie Fargeat – The Substance: “Nothing scared Demi Moore”

How did the director convince Demi Moore to accompany her on her horrific and die-hard trip? Coralie Fargeat delivers the recipe for her magical substance.

“I wrote The Substance without thinking of someone specific for the main character, but the ideal was of course that the role be played by an iconic actress, who could symbolize what I'm talking about in the film: the pressure of an idea of ​​success which passes through the eyes of others. The casting challenge was then to find an actress who was sufficiently comfortable in her skin to agree to confront her own phobia as an actress: the degradation of her image. During preparation, Demi Moore's name came up several times. I thought it was a great idea but, to be honest, I didn't think she would be up for messing with her image like that. So I was very surprised when we received positive feedback on the script.

I had an image of Demi Moore solely linked to her roles. I grew up in the era of Ghost and of Indecent proposal. These are not necessarily my bedside films, but I appreciated them for what they were: very successful entertainment. These are the films that made Demi Moore a star, at a time when female characters were primarily made to be sexy, attractive – it was primarily this power of attraction that was highlighted in them. Reading Demi's autobiography enlightened me to a completely different side of her personality. I discovered the journey of a young woman who fought in a very masculine world, experienced many hard knocks and finally succeeded in establishing herself. She has always had a lot of instinct and has often turned to things in her career that were outside of traditional patterns.

The Substance: a pinnacle of body horror to the endist [critique]

The Substance offered many challenges. Very quickly, during our first meeting, I wanted to talk in detail about the constraints that this film would pose. The scenario was extremely precise, she understood very well that it was a strong bias, an author's point of view, she knew very well where she was putting her feet. Nothing scared him. However, I wanted to convey to him precisely what I had in mind. It is a film with very little dialogue, the actors' interpretation is therefore totally and intrinsically linked to the sound, the visuals, the staging.

We also had to talk about the level of nudity required in the film, to make sure she was comfortable with it and understood its meaning. We needed an actress who wanted to make this film for what it was. I wanted to make sure that the issues in the film resonated the same way for her as they did for me. Moreover, it is not so much the “actress” dimension of the role that resonated with her, but what the film says about women’s bodies, about the way in which we are valued, or not, in our professional lives. and personal.

We discussed a lot about my cinematographic references, in the body horror register but not only. I always find these conversations interesting, because they allow the actors to begin to infuse themselves into the world of the film. I spoke to him about The Fly, Requiem for a Dream, Sailor and Lula, Mulholland Driveof Joker also, for physical performance and the way of using the body.

The scenario of The Substance is precise, it's lace, the scenes respond to each other, so if there is the slightest hitch, the whole edifice collapses. On a set, it is only the director who has the total vision of what the film will be, with the sound, the effects, the rhythm, the editing. You have to be sure that everything is in the right place, at the right intensity. It's dance. Demi had to accept these constraints, while investing in her character emotionally.

A final challenge was that we worked in an independent system, and we did not have a huge budget. We were filming in France, with a more artisanal operation than the big Hollywood productions. Again, I wanted to make sure Demi was comfortable with this. She understood the configuration, the issues, everything was clear beforehand and she was up for it. As the shoot was long, all the cards had to be on the table.

Of course, the fact that Demi carries something close to what the character symbolizes was good for the film. Even if what really matters, in the end, is having a good actress. I often quote a friend of mine who says: “A film is an actor or actress who encounters a role.” This is what happened with Demi. She was at a moment of introspection, regaining great inner strength. She was looking to take control of her career and this role crystallized what she was going through. »