Demi Moore, 62, Drops a Truth Bomb on Aging That Will Change How You See Your Own Power Forever

Isn’t it wild how some stars manage to reinvent themselves and rise even higher after decades in the spotlight? Watching Demi Moore snag the most buzz-worthy acclaim of her entire 40-plus year journey with her bold role in The Substance was nothing short of electrifying. You have to wonder—how does a woman who’s been celebrated, objectified, and challenged by Hollywood for so long find that fresh spark in her 60s? On September 10, I had the privilege of catching Demi at the Forbes 13th Annual Power Women’s Summit, where she peeled back the layers on aging unapologetically, reclaiming her power, and how this daring horror flick ignited a vibrant new chapter in her career. Her candidness struck a chord that goes way beyond the glitz—it’s about defying clichés and owning every part of yourself. Curious about her mindset and the raw truths she shared? Dive into some of the most inspiring moments from her spirited chat with Moira Forbes. LEARN MORE

Watching Demi Moore earn the most acclaim of her 40-plus year career for her daring performance in The Substance was nothing short of inspiring, and on September 10, Woman’s World was fortunate to attend Forbes’ 13th Annual Power Women’s Summit, where the star spoke candidly about aging, finding her power and revitalizing her career with the bold horror film.

Read on to see some of the highlights from Moore’s spirited conversation with Moira Forbes.

Challenging clichés around aging: ‘We don’t become invisible’

As someone who was objectified throughout the ’80s and ’90s, Moore, now 62, has a unique perspective on aging, and she spoke honestly about her experience with it, saying, “I think it’s a major misperception that we become invisible at a certain age. We don’t become invisible. There’s this idea that we’re not seen and that our value is attached to our fertility, when I feel like this is one of the most powerful times in my entire life.”

Overcoming life’s difficulties: ‘I shifted my lens of perception’

Moore has overcome her share of challenges, as she battled an eating disorder and drug addiction early in her career and dealt with Hollywood sexism, which led to her demanding equal pay and ultimately becoming the highest-paid actress of the ’90s.

Looking back at how she made it through tough times, Moore said, “I shifted my lens of perception. We all encounter things that are extremely challenging and even things that are traumatic, but when we look at it through the lens of ‘This is happening for me, not to me,’ it doesn’t make it any easier or less painful, but I can then shift to see what it is this in service to and what it’s trying to give me, as opposed to what it is taking from me.”

“It’s not one and done,” she admitted. “There’s a daily effort of acknowledgement, acceptance and action. It’s about giving yourself the room to be all of who you are, not just the parts that you want people to see.” She then hit on a key point of moving from self-doubt to self-love: “Finding that greater acceptance of myself at all the different stages, there are things that I’ve found a deeper appreciation of, but sometimes acceptance isn’t necessarily that I like it. I don’t always like what I’m having to accept, but I can accept it as part of the wholeness of who I am. It’s a daily effort.”

Such a process can be emotionally trying, and she continued, “None of us want to be vulnerable. It feels exposed, and yet I do see it as a superpower.” This vulnerability has helped her as an actress: “Some of the projects I’ve chosen have been an opportunity to become more comfortable with my own vulnerability and sharing it. When we watch things and relate to others, we see their vulnerability because it allows us to feel ourselves in a more compassionate way.”

How ‘The Substance’ changed Demi Moore’s life: ‘It pushed me out of my comfort zone’

The 2024 film The Substance, in which Moore stars as an aging actress who turns to a sketchy drug to create a younger version of herself (played by Margaret Qualley), with wildly disturbing results, was a critical and commercial sensation, and earned her a Golden Globe and her very first Oscar nomination.

Moore credited The Substance with being a turning point in her career. “There was a point that I hit where I felt like maybe I was done,” she revealed. “I wasn’t finding roles that seemed interesting, and I didn’t know if I really had a place. It was a real low point, and it put me into a space where I thought, ‘OK, if I never did this again, would I feel like life was enough?’ I said I would be OK, but was that what I really wanted? If it wasn’t, then I would have to inject all of my energy and focus into seeing what this next chapter of my life would be. It really came out of a place where I felt that I didn’t belong, and I wasn’t able to stop and have a perspective on all that I had done in a way to have that appreciation to propel me forward.”

“Now, what I look at is really the excitement of the simple things,” she said. “It’s not so much the work I’m doing, it’s the way in which I’m living. Every single day, what excites me is waking up and having gratitude that I’m alive, that I’m healthy and that I’m getting to do something that I love. I don’t ever like to go ‘This is what I want to do,’ because I feel like that immediately creates a limitation, instead I go ‘What do I want it to feel like?’ I want to push the edge that scares me just a little bit, but that isn’t dangerous.”

“Doing The Substance clearly pushed me out of my comfort zone,” she continued. “It pushed me to confront my own self-judgment and the areas where I was placing way too much value on how I look versus who I am. I look at things that are challenging me to try something new and learn something, because I think that’s what keeps you really vibrant and alive.”

Moore went on to reflect on The Substance’s impact on women. “Obviously, for women of my age range, it had an automatic kind of relatability, but it struck me to see how many young people it resonated with,” she said. “I think that was because it touched on the essential idea of our self-value and the idea that it doesn’t come from the outside-in, it comes from the inside-out. There’s an awareness of the search and desperation that can take place in trying to seek external approval while lacking any self-approval and self-love.”

Moore connected with The Substance on a deeply personal level, saying, “In the film as well as in life, in truth, there’s nothing that anyone else has done to me that is worse than what I’ve done to myself. In the film, my character doesn’t have any friends or family, so everything is internalized in her perception that is then placed on ‘If you love me, then I can love me,’ but the truth is we have to love ourselves for others to love us.”

For someone who has been in the public eye for decades, Moore is refreshingly grounded, and we’re taking the wise words she shared at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit to heart.