What films influenced the career of actress Demi Moore (17 photos)

Surely, many of you remember the famous actress (and part-time ex-wife of Bruce Willis) Demi Moore, who starred in many popular films such as "Ghost", "Striptease", "GI Jane" and others. But in recent years, almost nothing has been heard about the actress.





Short biography

As usual, I will tell you a little about the childhood and development of the actress. Demi Moore (Guines) was born on November 11, 1962, in Rosewell, New Mexico. Her mother became pregnant by an Air Force pilot when she was 18 years old. But the man left her before Demi was born.

When Demi was 3 months old, her mother married newspaper advertising salesman Danny Guines, who adopted the girl, giving her his last name. However, the future actress did not have a happy childhood, as her mother and stepfather often quarreled and abused alcohol and illegal substances. Only at the age of 13 did Demi find out that Danny Guines was not her biological father.



Demi was a very sickly child. Since childhood, she was diagnosed with Nephrosis, because of which she was hospitalized several times. In addition, the future movie star suffered from strabismus, but fortunately, this was corrected.

At the age of 16, Demi dropped out of school and moved in with a 28-year-old guy, namely 28-year-old guitarist Tom Dunston. Well, Tom Dunston's mother got the girl a job as a secretary at the studio "20th century studios". At the same time, she met the young actress Nastassja Kinski, who lived next door, and it was inspired by her activities that Demi Moore decided to become an actress, enrolling in acting classes.

Beginning of a career

Demi Moore first got into cinema in 1978, playing a small role as a young prostitute in the film "Kaz". However, it is unlikely that any of you will remember this film, much less recognize the future star in it.

But Demi Moore's full-fledged acting debut took place in 1982 in the film "Parasite", where she played one of the main roles. This film has already become a boost to Moore's career, because with a budget of 800 thousand dollars, the film collected as much as 7 million at the box office. But despite this, Demi Moore would later say that this was basically the worst film she had ever starred in.





"Parasite"

And in 1984, she got the role of Nicole (the daughter of one of the main characters) in the film "Blame It on Rio". Personally, I adored this film as a child, and I watched it on video more than once. True, the film did not show itself well at the box office, although it did not become unprofitable.



With a budget of 9 million dollars, the film collected 18 million at the box office. Well, if you take into account the sales of videotapes, the amount will be much more.

Achievements

Thanks to the above-mentioned films, Demi Moore was noticed, and directors began to invite her to their films. For example, in 1985, the film "Big Elmo's Light" was released. And as director Joel Schumacher said, he barely managed to negotiate with the studio bosses to take Demi Moore for the main role.



"Big Elmo's Lights"

And everything would be fine, but at that time Demi Moore got hooked on illegal substances, which is why she often disrupted filming. The director set the condition that if she did not recover from her addiction, he would kick her out of the film. Obedient Demi agreed to Schumacher's condition without question and underwent a course of rehabilitation.

And when Demi Moore returned to the set completely "clean", the director still decided to play it safe and assigned a special person to her who would monitor whether the actress was taking anything or not. And it really helped. And in the end, this film collected 50 million dollars in the American box office alone with a budget of only 10 million. And I don’t even take into account the box office receipts abroad and the profit from the sale of video media. In the end, the film “Big Elmo’s Light” became a breakthrough in Demi Moore’s career, giving her a powerful boost.



“What Happened Last Night”

In 1986, the film “What Happened Last Night” was released, which also showed itself quite well at the box office, collecting 39 million dollars in the American box office with a budget of 9 million. The actress herself received a record 300 thousand dollars for her role at that time.

First failures

But, unfortunately, no one can maintain high positions all the time, and Demi Moore was no exception. In 1988, the actress starred in her first truly disastrous film, "The Seventh Sign." And then came the failure of "We're No Angels" (1989), which grossed only $10.5 million at the box office with a budget of $20 million. And this is despite the fact that Robert De Niro starred in the film.



"The Seventh Sign"

New Success

But apparently these failures were a kind of sign for the actress. the thing is that because of these very failures Demi Moore could have lost many good offers, so when she was offered to play one of the main roles in the film "Ghost" (1990), she immediately agreed, despite the fact that many other actors were afraid to participate in this project. And perhaps, if the previous films had been successful, she would have also refused the role of Molly in "Ghost".



"Ghost"

By the way, Bruce Willis, who at that time was already married to Demi Moore, and who was offered the main role in this film, also refused to participate in this film. Moreover, for many it was strange that the director of the film was Jerry Zucker, who had previously become famous as a director of parody films.

By the way, according to Jerry Zucker himself, he really liked Demi Moore in those very films that failed at the box office. And that is why he decided to cast her in one of the leading roles.

And it was a bull's eye, because the film "Ghost" became simply mega-successful, collecting as much as 505 million dollars at the box office with a budget of 22 million. Moreover, the film received 2 Oscars, as well as 3 nominations. True, Moore herself was not nominated for an Oscar, but she did receive a nomination for a Golden Globe.

New Failures

Thanks to the success of "Ghost", Demi Moore received a huge fee for her at that time for the film "The Butcher's Wife" in the amount of 2.5 million dollars. But the film did not perform well at the box office. But that's not even the worst thing. The worst thing is that for this film Demi Moore received her first "Golden Raspberry" as the worst actress.



The Butcher's Wife

Following "The Butcher's Wife", the film "Everything is Bad" also failed, collecting a pitiful 8.5 million dollars at the box office with a budget of 40 million.

Clearly, 1991 was a rather unsuccessful year for Moore, because the film "Deadly Thoughts", released that same year, also turned out to be a failure, despite the presence of Bruce Willis in it. Yes, the film somehow recouped its costs, and even went slightly beyond zero, but viewers and critics called the film very mediocre.

A New Takeoff

Unlike most actors, Demi Moore's career was somewhat seesaw-like. Takeoffs were followed by falls, and vice versa. So in 1992, the film "A Few Good Men" was released, which did well at the box office, collecting 243 million dollars with a budget of 40 million.



"A Few Good Men"

True, in order to get a role in this film, Demi had to agree to reduce her fee from 3.5 to 2 million dollars. But it was definitely worth it.

In 1993, Moore got the lead role in the film "Indecent Proposal". It's funny that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were initially signed for the lead roles, but in the end they refused to participate in the filming of this film, which is why many other actors began to suspect that something was wrong with the film. But Demi, apparently remembering her experience with "Ghost", agreed to this role without hesitation.



"Indecent Proposal"

It is worth noting that Woody Harrelson felt very uncomfortable on the set, because he was close friends with Bruce Willis, and it was very awkward for him to shoot scenes with kisses and hugs when he saw how her partner's husband (who, by the way, constantly lived on the set) saw all this. Apparently, this is what influenced the fact that he grabbed the "Golden Raspberry" for his role. Demi herself got away with a "slight fright", receiving only a nomination for the same "Golden Raspberry".

But despite this, viewers highly appreciated this film. And with a budget of 38 million dollars, the film managed to collect 266 million dollars, which was definitely only a plus for the actress.

Thanks to her new successes, Demi Moore was able to increase her price tag, and for her next film "Disclosure" (1994) she received her record-breaking 5 million dollars at that time.



And despite all the difficulties that occurred during filming, the film was finished, and also had quite a good success with the audience. At the box office, the film collected 215 million dollars with a budget of 55 million, thanks to which the actress was able to firmly gain a foothold on the Hollywood pedestal.

Well, then Moore signed on for the film "From Time to Time". And, what is most interesting, she starred in it more for the soul. She wanted to star in this film so much that she reduced her fee to 500 thousand dollars, which was already unusual for her. It's not that the film did particularly well at the box office, but it nevertheless made a good profit, grossing $37.5 million at the box office with a budget of $12 million.

More flops

4 box office successes in a row allowed Demi Moore to dramatically increase her status. And already in the next film, "The Scarlet Letter" (1995), she was allowed to influence the filming process. And many members of the film crew were very unhappy with this fact, because Demi was constantly capricious, forcing scenes to be reshot over any little thing.



"The Scarlet Letter"

As a result, due to constant reshoots (due to Moore's fault), the film went over budget, and the actress paid extra for the filming out of her own pocket. However, the film was not a success at all, but a failure, and a very loud one at that. With a budget of 50 million dollars, the film "The Scarlet Letter" collected a paltry 10 million dollars. It was a crash. Plus, Moore received another nomination for the "Golden Raspberry".

But oddly enough, this failure did not affect the actress's career, and she got roles in such films as "The Juror", "Striptease" and "G.I. Jane". But here, everything clearly didn't go according to Moore's plan.

With a budget of 44 million dollars (7.5 of which went to Demi Moore personally), the film "The Juror" collected 22 million at the box office, and the actress herself received the Golden Raspberry anti-award this time.



"The Juror"

The film "Striptease" performed much better. Yes, it wasn't a star, but it was able to recoup its 50 million budget, earning 113 million at the box office. But the actress herself received a record 12.5 million dollars for herself.

But the situation with the film "G.I. Jane" (1997) was much better. The US Department of Defense simply hated this film, and refused to cooperate with the filmmakers in any way. And this film also failed at the box office, collecting 48 million dollars with a budget of 50 million. Moreover, Moore received her next "Golden Raspberry". Thus, Demi Moore became almost the worst actress (after Madonna) according to the "Golden Raspberry".



"G.I. Jane"

But then the actress's career somehow noticeably sagged. She either got into films that were not released in theaters, going straight to video, or starred in TV series, or voiced cartoon characters (yes, she voiced Esmeralda in the Disney cartoon "The Hunchback of Notre Dame").

In 2003, Demi Moore appeared in the film "Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle", but this film did not save her, because with a budget of 160 million dollars, the film collected 259 million at the box office, because of which the franchise was closed, and Demi Moore herself received her next "Golden Raspberry".



"Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle"

The next film, "Flawless" (2007), although released, was able to collect only 6.8 million dollars with a budget of 20 million. And the film "Half-Light", which Moore was counting on, was not released at all, being released straight to video.

All these failures, as well as numerous "Golden Raspberries", greatly affected the actress's further career. The films in which she took part, as a rule, were not released, and if she did get roles in some major projects, then as a rule she flickered somewhere in the background. And then, all the films she participated in later failed miserably at the box office.

A final leap upward?

And it would seem that the actress has sunk to the bottom, from which it is impossible to get out. But suddenly, 62-year-old Demi Moore unexpectedly got the lead role in the film "Substance" (2024), which, with a budget of 17.5 million dollars, collected a box office of 56.5 million. Yes, this, of course, is far from the same collections that were earlier in the actress's career, but considering the bottom from which she climbed out, this can definitely be called a success.



And who knows, maybe Demi will still be able to push herself a little, having played in a couple of more or less successful films.