Demi Moore ‘took many risks’ – director Coralie Fargeat on making The Substance

Published

5 days ago

February 16, 2025

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It’s the bloody body horror that has made audiences squirm in their seats – and is now making waves throughout awards season.

Demi Moore has already won a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice award for her performance as fading star Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance – and we’ll find out later on if she gets to add a BAFTA to that list.

The film sees the ’90s icon playing an Oscar winner turned fitness guru struggling to accept she has been unceremoniously dropped from her TV show because she’s too old. She signs up for a secret new medical procedure to create a younger version of herself – without fully understanding what the consequences might be.

Moore stars alongside Margaret Qualley, who plays her younger version. The impact of creating this other “self” – called Sue – on her own body is pretty gruesome.

Director Coralie Fargeat insists her visceral story is more allegory than gory, reflecting the daily violence and sexism women experience throughout life.

“The story was really for me expressing what a life of a woman in our society is in a very genuine way, which is the violence that I think it’s at every level and stage… since we were little girls,” she tells Sky News.

“There are so many pressures that make you feel that if you are not the perfect fantasy or ideal then you don’t deserve to exist. That you have to cut this, hide that, keep it inside, and it is a huge jail that we’ve been raised with and it generates so much violence.”

A few years ago, The Substance might not have been considered traditional awards season fare. But horrors are having a moment, with Heretic and Nosferatu in the running at several ceremonies this year. And the theme of The Substance, a reflection of the harsh realities of ageing for women, especially in Hollywood, is resonating.

The ‘popcorn’ speech

On stage at the Globes, Moore, 62, gave an emotional speech about winning her first major award after 45 years in the business, despite starring in dozens of hit films including Ghost, A Few Good Men and Indecent Proposal. The irony was not lost.

“Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a ‘popcorn’ actress and at that time, I made that mean that this wasn’t something that I was allowed to have, that I could do movies that were successful, that made a lot of money, but that I couldn’t be acknowledged,” she says.

“I bought in, and I believed that, and that corroded me over time, to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it, maybe I was complete. I’ve done what I was supposed to do.

“And as I was at kind of a low point, I had this magical, bold, courageous, out-of-the-box, absolutely bonkers script come across my desk called The Substance, and the universe told me that you’re not done.”

Moore thanked French filmmaker Fargeat along with her team, and said the film was a reminder “that I do belong”.

Now, The Substance is nominated for five BAFTAs and five Oscars.

Fargeat says she let out “a huge scream of joy” when she found out – saying the nods are particularly satisfying after she initially struggled to secure funding for the film.

“The space that [women] have is still to be pretty, to smile, to be gentle, polite, and I really wanted to be the opposite.”

‘She took risks’

Fargeat is also BAFTA and Oscar-nominated for best director – but once again, is the only female filmmaker in the running.

“Being the only woman director, I still think it tells a lot of things about all the imbalance, you know, the inequality that there is in society,” she says.

“There are as many women in film school as there are men… when you look at the difference between film school and where we are now, like [the absence of women making] second and third feature films. The difference is drastic.”

She was told to tone the film down “a lot”.

But Fargeat stuck to her guns and it paid off. Critics have called Moore’s performance the best of her career, with many tipping her to win her first-ever BAFTA and Oscar.

On awards prediction site Gold Derby, Moore is the favourite to win best actress at the Oscars, with more than half of the experts backing her. For the BAFTAs, they have her tied with Anora’s Mikey Madison.

“The truth is that she took many risks,” Fargeat says of Moore. “The script arrived to her at a time where she was in the process of getting the control of who she was back, not letting the outside world define her worth, being empowered for herself to decide who she wanted to be – and the next chapter of her life.”

Entertainment

Neighbours cancelled again by Amazon – just two years after 40-year-old soap was revived

Published

4 hours ago

February 21, 2025

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Neighbours cancelled again by Amazon - just two years after 40-year-old soap was revived

Neighbours has been axed for a second time, just two years after Amazon threw the Australian soap a lifeline.

A statement on the programme’s social media accounts confirmed the final episode of the 40-year series would air in December 2025.

The show follows the lives of the residents of Erinsborough, a fictional suburb of Melbourne, with famous former alumni including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Margot Robbie.

Executive producer Jason Herbison said: “Audiences all around the world have loved and embraced Neighbours for four decades and we are very proud of the huge success over the last two years including often appearing as one of the Top 10 titles in the UK and the show’s first ever Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Daytime Series in 2024.

“As this chapter closes, we appreciate and thank Amazon MGM Studios for all that they have done for Neighbours – bringing this iconic and much-loved series to new audiences globally.

“We value how much the fans love Neighbours and we believe there are more stories of the residents of Ramsay Street to tell in the future.”

It is the second time the show has been cancelled, after it was first axed by Channel 5 in the UK after it failed to secure new funding.

But a few months after what was meant to be its final episode, the series was revived by streaming giant Amazon Freeve and Freemantle.

The show is available online in the UK and on Channel 10 in Australia.

Channel 10 said on X: “They’ve been our neighbours for almost 40 years, we’re so sad to be saying goodbye. We’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to this remarkable Australian story over the years.”

Entertainment

Sir David Frost’s son: What I learned reviewing broadcast legend’s famous interviews

Published

4 hours ago

February 21, 2025

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Sir David Frost's son: What I learned reviewing broadcast legend's famous interviews

Dad was a showman with great charisma, but he never lost sight of the fact that an interview is about the guest, not the host.

That is made clear when you review the 10,000+ interviews he did, as I have done over the last decade since he left us.

That theme has been central to the series, David Frost Vs.

Six individual films about crucial moments in our recent history, that are still relevant and resonant today, where Dad just happened to have a front row seat, not six films specifically about Dad.

His extraordinarily revealing interviews with the likes of The Beatles, Yoko Ono, Muhammad Ali, Jane Fonda, Elton John and Richard Nixon are in part so revealing because they were given time to breathe.

Long-form is critical to have a chance of delivering the era-defining conversations that stand the test of time as he did so often. But it takes much more than that. These conversations are deeply personal.

I think our films will reveal more than expected about the people and topics we explore because you really feel the words being spoken.

Dad understood live television better than anyone and when it came to interviewing, both his guests and his viewers are drawn in because what drove him was a genuine curiosity about people.

He never entered an interview with an agenda. He was interested in the person in front of him and what they had to say.

But I don’t think that is something you can teach or learn. He just genuinely loved people.

David Frost Vs is coming soon to Sky Documentaries.

Entertainment

James Bond: Amazon takes creative control of 007 franchise

Published

19 hours ago

February 20, 2025

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James Bond: Amazon takes creative control of 007 franchise

Creative control of the long-running James Bond franchise has been handed to Amazon MGM Studios, in a joint venture with the current owners.

Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson – who are the daughter and stepson of film producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, the man responsible for developing the Bond franchise into the success it is today – will remain co-owners of 007 intellectual property rights.

The pair own EON Productions, the company behind Bond films including Skyfall and Spectre. It has produced 25 films since 1962.

The deal follows speculation over when the next Bond movie – and indeed the next Bond – will be announced.

The last film, No Time To Die, was delivered four years ago to rave reviews and box office success. It was the swansong for Daniel Craig in his performance of the lady-loving spy.

Details of the 26th official Bond film – and its new star – are yet to be revealed.

In a statement on EON Productions website, Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios said they were “honoured to continue this treasured heritage” and looked forward to “ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world”.

Wilson said that after 60 years spent working across the franchise, he would now be focusing on “art and charitable projects”.

Barbara Broccoli said: “My life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father, producer Cubby Broccoli.

“I have had the honour of working closely with four of the tremendously talented actors who have played 007 and thousands of wonderful artists within the industry. With the conclusion of No Time To Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects.”

In 2022, Amazon bought MGM Studios, which distributes Bond, for $8.45bn (£6.79bn).

Since the acquisition, the streamer has held the rights to distribute all the Bond movies.

In the spring of 2023, Amazon Prime Video launched Bond-themed reality show, 007 Road To A Million.

Hosted by Succession star Brian Cox, it offered nine pairs of contestants the chance to win £1m as they travelled through global locations associated with the franchise.

While no one took home the full £1m jackpot, brothers James and Joey did take £150,000. The show was met with a mixed critical reception but was given the green light for a second season.