Demi Moore Says She’s in the ‘Most Exciting Time of My Life’ at 61: ‘I Have the Most Independence and Autonomy’

Demi Moore is more confident in her own skin than ever at 61.

While speaking on the Today show on Monday, Sept. 9, the actress discussed her new movie, The Substance, which had its North American premiere on Thursday, Sept. 5 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In the film, Moore plays a celebrity named Elisabeth Sparkle, who tries a black-market drug to create a younger version of herself. That new version of the character, Sue, is played by Margaret Qualley.

Despite wanting to be younger in the movie, Moore couldn't be happier in real life. "We are what the future is for women, and I look at having my daughters and I don't want [it] to ever be in their minds that there is an end," she told Today co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.

"To me, this is the most exciting time of my life. It is, I feel like my children are grown, I have the most independence and autonomy to really redefine where I want to go," the mom of three added, insisting, "I don't know what that looks like or where it is, but I'm just excited to be living in it."

The topic of aging has understandably come up in multiple interviews while Moore has been promoting her latest flick, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival back in May.

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While speaking to Variety in an interview published on Sept. 3, the star spoke about whether filming the movie had changed how she felt about getting older.

"It’s not hugely different before and after. But it gave me a greater appreciation for myself as I am," Moore told the outlet. "One of the biggest themes of my career is challenging preconceived ideas and limitations. I’m at a point where I’m writing my own story, as opposed to my story being dictated to me based on my age."

"Who says somebody can’t look a certain way or do certain things? Your 60s is not what your 60s used to be. There’s a part of me that’s enjoying figuring it out as I go along," she said. 

"I had more challenges, particularly in my career, in my 40s than I do now. At that time, no one quite knew what to do with me. I wasn’t 30, but I wasn’t 40 in a way that people could comfortably identify me as a mother, etc. There was no place for me," the actress added.

While talking with with Michelle Yeoh for an Interview Magazine conversation published on Aug. 27, Moore said she was "moved" when she read the movie's script "because it was such a unique way to be exploring this issue of aging, of societal conditioning, of what I also see as the pressure of the male-idealized woman that we as women have bought into."

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The Substance is in theaters on Sept. 20, 2024.