The New Yorker Radio Hour - Demi Moore Talks with Jia Tolentino

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

Since she reëmerged as a star in the 2024 film “The Substance,” Demi Moore has been very busy. She has a major role in the current season of Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman” series, and she has two highly anticipated films coming out this year: a science-fiction film directed by Boots Riley, and “Strange Arrivals,” alongside Colman Domingo, about a couple who claimed to have been abducted by aliens. She sat down at The New Yorker Festival in the fall with the staff writer Jia Tolentino to discuss her varied career and how she has dealt with the pressures of the industry.This episode was recorded live at The New Yorker Festival, on October 25, 2025. New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians. New Yorker Radio Hour listeners, we want to hear from you.  We have a few questions about the show and how you listen to it. The survey takes about twenty minutes, and your feedback will help us make our podcast better.  Take the survey here.

This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. This is The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. Dimey Moore was one of the biggest stars of the 80s and 90s. And for a time, she was the highest paid actress in Hollywood. And since she reemerged as a lead in the 2024 film, The Substance, Demi Moore has been very busy. She's got a major role in the new season of Taylor Sheridan's Landman. And she stars in two widely anticipated films. that are coming out this year.

First, there's a science fiction film directed by Boots Riley. And then there's strange arrivals where she plays a role alongside Coleman Domingo, and it's about a couple who claim to have been abducted by aliens.

Sounds pretty good. Demi Moore's memoir, Inside Out, came out a few years ago, and this fall at the New Yorker Festival, she sat down to talk with staff writer, Gia Tolentino. You had quite young parents, you moved around a ton.

You were required to grow up very quickly, and you write in the memoir that all the adapting that you had to do as you moved from place to place was part of perhaps early training to become an actor. Can you just talk about that? Yeah, I mean, so I was in roughly never less than two schools a year. So we were always moving, and I became quite excellent at loading a U-Haul. But one of the things when you don't know any different is that you, there's two aspects to that. Yes, I became very adaptive. to being in a new environment, new schools, new friends. And on the plus side, I also learned kind of the positive side of not clinging to attachment.

And, you know, the downside of that is that it made it harder to know how to really nurture friendships. But that ability to be adaptable lent itself very much to what the nature of being an actor is, because that is entirely what we're asked and required to do. Not just in our roles, but with each project, it's kind of like many marriages, many families that you're stepping into, and each is slightly different, and you have to find a way of holding on to your own center as you are in entirely new settings, environments, and with different people. when you were did you feel when you were little that you did you have a sense of what that center was or did it take longer to realize that you had to hold on to

i think the thing is is when you're like always trying to just like i became very quick at assessing like what the situation is who's who's popular who's not and and and the effort became how to fit in but in doing so sometimes i didn't have a sense of myself at all. I think that that's something that evolved much more as I matured. And in truth, as I made a clearer decision about what path I wanted to take, by the way, that was still at only 15 years old. But no, I don't, I think I actually didn't know, like, well, what do I like? What do I like? I was so always working towards just fitting in and belonging. And then, right, so you started acting as a teenager and you were, you know, as they say,

you were booked and busy. You and you were also, you know, you were quite young when you had children too. You were kind of in the thick of it in terms of your career. I was, I don't think that any one of us watching a few good men could really have had any idea that you began rehearsing for that movie. I mean, mere weeks after having your second child, right? She was a month old when we started rehearsing. And all I could think about is that I was going to be in a military uniform.

Well, you're right. And you auditioned or you started, you were in talks for it. Oh, I had to audition. When I auditioned for a few good men, I was almost eight months pregnant, which was quite awkward reading those lines with Tom Cruise with this gigantic belly. I think Tom was quite embarrassed. I actually felt okay about it. I was moving around to all right, but I could tell he felt that it was a bit awkward.

Well, it's, I mean, it's kind of amazing. Like, you really, you pushed yourself to, you know, like, there was an unbelievable amount of discipline and play, an unbelievable amount of just, like, will and effort. There was another part of the memoir you were writing about when you were filming a decent proposal. Shooting days were 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. So you'd get up at 1.30 a.m. Start training by 2.

Do a full day shoot. You'd get off. Your kids would still be up. Yep. hang out with them. You know, it's, and I'm kind of wondering, like, what does that time period feel like to you now? At that moment, none of my peers were having children. And I think that there was still a bit of a feeling that you had to choose. You had to choose a career or being a mother. And it's one of the many things for me that I just felt like that that didn't make sense. And so I challenge that to say, you know, why not? Why can't you have both? But with that, I think, came a lot of pressure I put on myself to, in a sense, prove that it was possible.

And it was a lot. I look back at that time now and I go, what the fuck was I thinking? I mean, and what was I even trying to prove? But it wasn't as supported as it is today, you know, to be breastfeeding and then blocking and rehearsing a scene. Well, I was wondering, let's just go to the first clip. from the movie that you were getting up at 1.30 to train for from a decent proposal. You want me to lie. You want me to say he's awful. So you know what? I'm going to tell you he's awful and you won't believe me. How can I win? Just tell me the truth, Dave.

It was sex, David. Just sex, not love, just sex. And was it good sex? Don't do this, David. Can you just tell me that, Dee? Is it good? What are you hesitating for? Just tell me. Was it good? Was it good? Was it good? Yes. Watching you watch it, the lines are still in your, head. I mean, I haven't seen it in such a long time. But they were coming. Your mouth was making the... Like, I mean, it's lodged, right? I mean, is it like that for a lot of stuff or just

these really pivotal scenes in your movies? Like, literally, I don't, I don't know. I, I don't know. I think I was maybe wondering what was going to be coming out of my mouth. But it's, sometimes what's nice at this point in my life is that I actually have the ability to look back and have more appreciation. Yeah. Versus in it. I was like, yeah, that was pretty damn good. Versus remembering being in it.

How critical I was, how much I just dissected and tore apart all that wasn't versus today where I can really appreciate all that is. And so it's really nice. appreciate being able to like see that. And I love Woody so much. Although doing it, I have to say, you know, I met Woody because he was good friends with Bruce. And so doing the scenes with him, which obviously we have quite a few love scenes, was literally like having to do it with my brother, which was a little bit awkward. Well, I wonder, you know, I wonder if you can talk about filming it. This scene is probably

the most vulnerable moment for Diana, your character in the whole movie despite the fact that indecent proposal is engineered around what's ostensibly this other moment of vulnerability. This, you know, if you haven't seen it, the billionaire played by Robert Redford offers her a million dollars for a single night.

And we don't see that moment. Like very wisely, it's cut out. But tell us about filming that scene and summoning that. The one particular with Redford. No, sorry. this one yeah i mean i think you know this was such an interesting film in terms of the provocative nature the deep question that it was bringing forward which is is there a price for everything does

everyone have a price and also like what what we will do to survive like and in this case it's you know the the the pain of making a choice and having to live with the consequences is what that scene is really all about. And the unforeseen consequences of doing something that's for the higher good and not really knowing the depth of loss that could be at stake. Yeah, but you know what's also, it is, it is profoundly provocative movie, especially, you know, I went back and re-read all the coverage, but there was something about it that was, you know, just like you were saying, so much has changed in terms of, what women who are in the middle of their careers and having young children, what they can sort of demand and expect and sort of, it's quite different watching. Like all of reviews are like, you know, this scandalous, this, you know, this unspeakable. Like, but it's like, you know, Dave and Diana, they talk about what happened in Vegas. Like, it's this mortal sin, right? The sin that they committed together, but that also within kind of the sexual morality of the time kind of has to sit upon your character. Like, like, it's this mortal sin, right? And

it's made that it's it's a thing they did together but somehow she is shamed for it yeah and i'm also like i mean if you built a contemporary movie around this choice like i mean it is my sense that many more people men and women would have offered a million dollars to spend a night with robert redford would just be like okay you know like it's i'm in like does it feel um less like it carries the provocation that it really did at the time but is it is it funny to kind of think about it that way I mean, it is interesting, but I think at the core, at the core of our humanness, like while there are aspects of, you know, that the, what's a question may have changed in terms of our morality, I think in terms of the core of our humanness, the idea that you break a certain bond of being chosen, which is what's really occurring is that we have two people who've chosen each other. and by breaking that bond by her going outside for them,

it's it's like a glass breaking that can never quite be put back together. And I don't know if that's any different today than it was then. Totally. Do you have a favorite character? That I've played?

I have a partial attachment to GI Jane because there was something in that for me that really addressed so many bigger questions at play in women's roles. And particularly, you know, just this idea of there, if there is someone who is skilled and has the desire, why wouldn't we want them in that? Why is gender even a question? But just on a personal level, it was really transformative for me. Dimmie Moore speaking with the New Yorkers, Gia Tolentino, more in a moment.

I'm interested in, you know, these commonalities. I've had such a fun time rewatching my way through your filmography. And, you know, you are always playing tough, incredibly capable women who are in the middle of some battle between the complex reality that this woman lives in and the larger world's idea of how she should be. I mean, it's maybe not every single role, but it's, you know, it's G.I.J and the substance. And the battles often center on the body, right? Right? Yeah. High stakes have been placed on your character's bodies in many of your movies, whether it's the financial salvation of the household, like in indecent proposal or striptease, you know, or the entry of women into combat or, you know, in the substance, decades of box office, millions of dollars have been riding on Elizabeth Sparkle. And yeah, disclosure. Like, there are many movies of yours that engage these ideas. And I was wondering if you ever remember a moment of sort of seeing these commonalities and trying to, like at what point did you do you do? realize that you were playing these characters that were I mean I think so often well one I really feel like

roles choose you as much as you choose them and I do think you're a hundred percent right that there is a thread that goes through even if it's an unconscious one and I think mine tend to also challenge the status quo and and there is a certain physical

And I think that a lot of that was in an effort also for me to overcome some of my own issues around my body and my own discomfort in my own body. And, you know, with particularly the ones that were so physical like G.I. Jane, where I really knew that my body was a real pivotal part of the character, it pushed me to have to have to, in a sense, face myself and face that discomfort. And you wrote in the memoir that this was, you know, the film that you were most proud of because it was the hardest for you to make in every way, emotionally, physically, mentally.

And I wonder if you can tell us about just, you know, playing this character, the training. I think, like, you did it all. You outlasted Sam Rockwell. Yeah. Who dropped out because of the water shoots or, you know, whatever. And you, you know, you wrote that, they called you Jordan, your character's name the whole time.

And by the end, you know, they were yelling at the guys. Are you going to let yourself get beaten by some mother of three? Yeah. I mean, it was, you know, when I went down to do the training before we started filming, it was literally me and 40 guys. They like made it so that I really had to feel. Just like in the movie. I had to feel like physically, emotionally, mentally,

what the experience would be that you go through through the Bud's training. And, I mean, even down to being freezing in the water and saying, oh, my God, I have to pee. And somebody's saying, well, let it go and I hope it comes downstream. I'm like, wow, I am really in it. I am in and this. Well, when rewatching the movie,

I was struck by this other confrontation between you and Vigo Mortensen's character, this moment where he is haranguing Jordan in the shower. Israelis tried it. Women in combat. Seems men couldn't get used to. the sight of women blown open. They'd linger over the wounded females, often trying to save those who obviously couldn't be saved, often for the detriment of the mission. You were giving

a Navy Cross, right? Can I ask what you got it for? Since it bears on this conversation, I got it for pulling a 240-pound man out of a burning tank. So when a man tries to rescue another man, he's a hero, but when he tries to rescue a woman, he's a hero. But when he tries to rescue a woman, He's just gone soft. Could you pull that man clear? Lieutenant, you couldn't even haul your own body weight out of the water today. Permission to get dressed, master chief. And it's, it's, it's an interesting decision that I love so much looking back.

It's like she's new. She's in the shower. It's this intimate and charged moment. The two of you are obviously incredibly hot. But it's not played. But it's the movie, it's not played like that. There's no, it's, it's. brusk, it's short, there's no charged, like it's, there was, not a sexual, it's not, it's brusk,

it's quick. And I was, and I was, I was thinking about that and how, you know, kind of for even a movie of that time, that's, that's unusual. That's an unusual decision to not have there be kind of a, like, a moment. And I was thinking about another bit of your memoir when you wrote, and when you were writing about a few good men, you wrote, what I admired most about a few good men was the originality Aaron Sorkin and Rob Reiner showed by not having my character and Tom's get involved in anything romantic or even unprofessional. There was an expectation at that time on the part of studios and audience that if an attractive woman showed up on film, it was only a matter of time before you saw her in bed with the leading man or at least half naked. Sorkin said he wrote to an

exec who had been lobbying hard for a sex scene and he said, I'll never forget what the executive wrote back, which was, well, if Tom and Demi aren't going to sleep together, then why is Demi a woman? And in that time, to be fair, like that, you know, it was really a big part of the dynamic that was at play. And so I really, I always really appreciated that they took a stand for the integrity of the material because that, it wouldn't have ever been right. And it didn't need it. Yeah. It didn't need it. There's something different about the substance in that your characters have tended to be fearless, more or less. I mean, they, they have their vulnerability. but they go through life, like they do what needs to be done. Like they are just doing, like they are unbelievably competent.

They don't have a breakdown in kind of, you know, the front they put on to the world, basically. And your performances are all fearless. But this film struck me is a little different because Elizabeth is actually racked with fear

and she shows it. You said accepting your golden globe that a producer told you 30 years ago that you were a popcorn actress, meaning, as you said, that I could make very successful film. that make a lot of money, but I wasn't going to be recognized. And you said, there came a moment where I thought that was it. Maybe I was complete and I had done what I was supposed to do.

And, you know, and people, in the substance, you know, people reacted in a way that repudiated all of that so forcefully. Like, people responding to your, your acting, your craft, like, not your presence, not your star power, but really the particularity and the nuance of what you were doing. And I wondered if that changed the way that you, like, what does that do to your own process now? like if it changed the way either you look for and consider new roles or if it made you think differently about the work that you had done in past decades. I mean, I think, you know, in my own growth, you know, what I've learned is how we relate to the issue is the issue. How I related to myself for a very long time was only that of what I wasn't, everything that I hadn't done.

And I really didn't have a sense of my own value or appreciation. So if there's probably any thread of everything I've done, it's probably in finding that sense of value that I didn't get in the foundation of when I grew up. And so I don't know. So how do I, so your question is, let me go back, is do I see myself differently now? Does it change the way you go after new rules now? I mean, no, it's still the same. For me, it's, you know, really looking to do stuff that still, you know, really pushes the envelope that pushes me to places I need to do something enough that I'm willing to fail. So I think my only other thing I was going to share is that I realized today that, you know, there's a point in my early career where I had nothing to lose because I didn't have anything. And then I had a little bit of success where you then start to get afraid of losing that success. And sometimes that fear of losing creates a contraction.

And then you fear taking a risk. And so what I've always tried to do is keep pushing myself beyond that limit. Jimmy Moore spoke at the New Yorker Festival with Gia Tolentino. And she's starring in the new season of Taylor Sheridan's Landman. You can read Gia Tolentino at New Yorker.com. including her terrific profile of Jennifer Lawrence, which came out recently. You can also subscribe to The New Yorker there as well, New Yorker.com. I'm David Remnick. Happy New Year from all of us at The New Yorker Radio Hour.

See you next time. The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Our theme music was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of Tune Arts, with additional music by Louis Mitchell and Jared Paul. This episode was produced by Max Balton, Adam Howard, David Krasnow, Jeffrey Masters, Louis Mitchell, Jared Paul, and Ursula Summer. With guidance from Emily Boutin and assistance from Michael May, David Gable, Alex Barish, Victor Gwan, and Alejandra Deccett.

And special thanks this week to Catherine Sterling, Amanda Miller, Julia Rothschild, Nico Brown, and Michael Etherington. The New Yorker Radio Hour is supported in part by the Cherina Endowment Fund.