Golden Globes 2025: Demi Moore “in shock” at nomination for ‘The Substance’
Demi Moore expressed surprise and delight over her Golden Globe nomination for her role in Coralie Fargeat’s body horror hit, The Substance.
The film was a hit at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this, earning Fargeat the ‘Best Screenplay’ award and generating plenty of buzz about Moore’s no-holds-barred performance and its prospects for awards season.
In the movie, she plays Elisabeth Sparkle, a Hollywood star who used to be at the top of the industry but now hosts a daytime television fitness show. When she’s fired for turning 50, she decides to try a mysterious new treatment to fight aging, a neon green substance that promises to create a younger version of herself. The body horror that ensues has been compared to the likes of David Cronenberg but is steeped in its own forms of squelching grotesquery.
When the Golden Globe nominations were announced on December 9th, The Substance appeared in four categories – ‘Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy’ for Moore, ‘Best Director’ for Fargeat, ‘Best Picture, Musical or Comedy,’ and ‘Best Supporting Actress in a Musical or Comedy’ for Margaret Qualley, who plays Elisabeth’s younger self, Sue.
“I’m in shock and awe, and … Really, I just feel so much joy, I have to say,” Moore said of her nomination to Deadline. “I mean, this was a risky project from the beginning, with really no certainty of how it would all come together. And so to see the journey it’s been on, and to have this acknowledgement, I just think is such a win on so many levels and I’m so excited for Margaret, too. I would say it’s been hard earned, obviously, if you’ve seen the film.”
The movie marks a career renaissance for Moore, who struggled to find roles in the early 2000s after being Hollywood’s highest-paid female actor in the ‘90s. It’s also a reminder that Moore has always been willing to take risks. One of the reasons her career suffered a downturn was because of the controversy surrounding her role as an exotic dancer in 1996’s Striptease, followed by her role as a Navy SEAL in 1997’s G.I. Jane. That risk-taking and fearlessness as a performer is now being celebrated, a change of fortune that the actor is clearly relishing.
“If I look back, I have something of a history of taking on more risky, unusual, thought-provoking, if not provocative films,” Moore said, adding, “This really was the opportunity that I had been waiting for. It gave me an opportunity to really show, and be able to do, the kind of work that I really love.”
The 2025 Golden Globe nominations
Leading the nominations for the Golden Globes this year is Jacques Audiard’s crime musical Emilia Pérez, which scored a total of ten nominations, including ‘Best Director,’ ‘Best Picture, Comedy or Musical,’ and ‘Best Actress’ for Karla Sofía Gascón.
In the ‘Best Actor’ categories, British actors Hugh Grant, Daniel Craig, and Ralph Fiennes will all be battling for an award, while Pamela Anderson and Zendaya are up for awards in the female acting categories.
Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, and Edward Berger’s papal thriller Conclave are all up for ‘Best Picture – Drama,’ while the ‘Best Musical or Comedy’ category features Anora, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, and the blockbuster musical Wicked.
However, there were also a few major snubs. Steve McQueen’s Blitz failed to make an appearance and Saoirse Ronan, who stars in both Blitz and the critically-acclaimed drama The Outrun, was passed over.
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