The role Demi Moore will always regret missing out on: “I got nervous and didn’t own it”
Demi Moore has risen to staggering new heights in the last year, with the release of The Substance leading global audiences to wake up to her genius and previously overlooked talent, with the actor sharing her struggles in the industry and journey to find the role of a lifetime. Since the beginning of her career, Moore became one of the ultimate ‘it girls’ of the 1980s, with breakout roles in films like Ghost, A Few Good Men and Indecent Proposal, eventually being offered a record-breaking deal to star in Striptease, which was a colossal flop and caused a huge decline in her career.
After this, she later starred in films like G.I. Jane and Charlie’s Angels but didn’t reach the same level of commercial success, with the actor sharing one potential role that might have changed this had it not been for a particularly nerve-wracking experience.
Hollywood has always been a fickle place, with the industry seemingly loving you one minute and then finding a reason to discard you. It has always been a place that both worships everyone inside when they have something to offer or will rip you apart for not blending in and fitting the status quo, with Moore having her own tough experiences with this after starring in some risky projects and becoming the scapegoat for box office failure, with Striptease being mocked and her performance ridiculed. The industry has always worked in this way, with some people only being loved while they hold commercial value, revealing the shallow intentions of the business and those who care more for profit than they do for art or the people behind them.
As a result, Moore had a difficult run in the industry, opening up about her experiences of being told by producers that she wouldn’t amount to anything and could only find work in meaningless popcorn pictures. However, the actor has perhaps changed the nature of the business and her career as a whole after being nominated for an Oscar for her role in The Substance, and while sharing the highs of her once-in-a-lifetime role, she has also discussed the lows of missing out on other great parts, including the leading role in Top Gun.
Tom Cruise famously starred in Top Gun in 1986, sparking a huge franchise that led to unprecedented success after the release of Top Gun: Maverick in 2022. While the series made huge stars out of the entire cast, Moore revealed her disappointment at missing out on the role of Charlie, which was later played by Kelly McGillis.
Moore explained how she had auditioned for the role but that it didn’t go her way, saying, “I think it was just the timing of things. I think the first audition was great and the screen test, I shanked, I got in my head. I just got nervous and I didn’t own it. But in my beating myself up, it then just reinforced the idea that I didn’t think I was good enough”.
While rejection is always a tough pill to swallow, Moore has remained resilient and persistent in her career, showing that success can never come too late and that if you are patient and passionate about what you do, the right role will eventually find you.
