Demi Moore lost the Oscar for best lead actress to Mikey Madison, but she was all smiles at the end of the night. Moore’s daughter, Tallulah Willis, shared a photo of the Oscar nominee posing with her beloved dog Pilaf and two massive trays of french fries after the Academy Awards. Willis wrote in the caption: “My winner.”
Moore was nominated for best lead actress thanks to her acclaimed performance in “The Substance,” which won the Oscar for best makeup and hairstyling. The movie also picked up nominations for best director and best picture. Moore was viewed as an Oscar frontrunner after winning best actress prizes at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards and SAG Awards. But “Anora” star Madison was also viewed as a major contender after winning at the BAFTAs. Madison prevailed over Moore at the Oscars.
After the Oscars, Moore celebrated the end of her awards season with her daughters. Scout LaRue Willis posted on her Instagram story: “So beyond proud, this woman is nothing but integrity, bright beaming light and love! What Grace I’ve never been more proud to be her daughter,”
Scout also shared a family photo on her Instagram feed and added: “I’ve never been more proud to be a part of this family.”
On Oscars morning before the ceremony, Rumor Willis took to social media to praise her mother in a tribute that read: “Watching you today, standing in your power, in your brilliance, in the culmination of decades of hard work, resilience, and undeniable talent—I have never been more proud. You have dedicated your life to your craft, pouring every ounce of yourself into the stories you tell, the characters you bring to life, and the barriers you continue to break. And tonight, the world gets to witness what I have always known: you are a force.”
Moore was nominated at the Oscars opposite Madison, Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”), Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”) and Karla Sofía Gascón (“Emilia Pérez”). She earned critical acclaim for “The Substance” dating back to the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last May. Moore stars in the movie as Elizabeth Sparkle, a once-popular actor and TV fitness icon who decides to inject herself with an experimental serum in order to prevent her star from further fading.
Throughout Oscars season, Moore proved to be a highlight with impassioned acceptance speeches. At the Golden Globes, she called out a producer for referring to her only as a “popcorn actress.”
“I made that mean that [awards are] not something I was allowed to have,” Moore said. “That I could do movies that were successful and made a lot of money, but that I couldn’t be acknowledged. I bought in, and I believed that. That corroded me over time, to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it. Maybe I had done what I was supposed to do.”
In her Critics’ Choice Awards acceptance speech, Moore shouted out awards bodies for giving acknowledgment to a genre movie like “The Substance.” She said: “I am so grateful, not just for my performance, but that you have highlighted this film, this genre. Normally, horror films are overlooked and not seen for the profundity that they can hold,” she said.
Then at the SAGs, Moore acknowledged her 47 years in the union and shared her advice to younger actors: “Don’t lose sight of the human connection. That is the work we do…to be connected to one another.”