Why You Don't Hear About Demi Moore Anymore
Back in the '80s, few stars were on the rise like Demi Moore. After starring in "St. Elmo's Fire" alongside the likes of Rob Lowe and Ally Sheedy, Moore landed another cult classic role opposite Patrick Swayze in "Ghost." However, despite the successes of her early career, Moore soon began to fade from the spotlight. After the relative failures of films like "Striptease" in 1996 and "G.I. Jane" in 1997, Moore's roles grew fewer and further between. Then, in 2000, her high profile marriage to Bruce Willis came to an end. The couple had previously moved to Idaho — after her divorce, Moore continued her rural life there. Although she continued producing films and TV projects, her Hollywood days seemed to be over forever.
So, what happened to Moore? Well, not only has she been occupied with raising her three daughters, but she also married (and divorced) Ashton Kutcher, overcame a battle with addiction, and wrote a memoir. Although her acting career has certainly slowed down, she's been pretty busy. Here's a little more on why we don't see as much of Demi Moore on the big screen these days.
Demi Moore moved to Idaho for her children
One of the main reasons that Demi Moore's career began to slow down in the '90s and early 2000s is a simple matter of distance — in 1995, she and her then-husband, Bruce Willis, decided to leave the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles behind for a much quieter life in Idaho.
The couple made the move so that they could offer their children a more normal life. "Hollywood is or can be a very toxic place," Willis said in an interview with "Extra" at the time (via The Spokesman-Review). "And I'm trying to keep that away from my kids as much as I can."
Although she initially lived between Idaho and LA, Moore later explained to The Guardian that she decided to move to Idaho permanently for the sake of her children. Even though this meant giving up acting work, she didn't mind. As she put it, "It was just that my children were important to me. ... It wasn't about: Am I giving up work? It was about: My children are important to me."
After her split from Bruce Willis, focusing on her kids became more important than ever
Demi Moore and Bruce Willis announced their separation in 2000. Their split was an amicable one. As she later reflected in her memoir "Inside Out," "I think Bruce was fearful at the beginning that I was going to make our split difficult, and that I would express my anger and whatever baggage that I had from our marriage by obstructing his access to the kids — that I'd turn to all of those ploys divorcing couples use as weapons. But I didn't, and neither did he" (via People).
Moore had been raised by divorced parents, so she was anxious to ensure that her children didn't suffer too much in the wake of their split. This meant giving them even more attention. "I realized if I wasn't present for them I was going to have bigger issues with them later," she said to The Guardian.
Even though Moore dedicated her time to her children rather than her career, her daughter Rumer Willis struggled with the separation. "When their father and I decided to divorce, it probably had the biggest impact on her," Moore said during her daughter's appearance on "Dancing With the Stars." She added, "Her self-esteem was nothing. I could only just keep loving her and loving her until she could love herself" (via HuffPost).
Demi Moore's Striptease wasn't exactly a box office hit
Another reason why Demi Moore may have let her acting work take a back seat was the simple fact that audiences and studio executives alike began to take a disliking to her work. This began in 1996, when Moore starred in "Striptease." The film was meant to be another massive blockbuster that would skyrocket her career to even greater heights; however, the film was a critical and a financial flop. As a result, she was dubbed "box office poison" (via Far Out Magazine).
A Disney executive even told Newsweek that the film was such a big disaster that it made audiences lose interest in her follow-up film, "G.I. Jane." "We don't know what to do ... People just don't want to see her. We would have to drag them kicking and screaming to see this movie," he said (via The Telegraph). It's no wonder producers were less keen to cast Moore in the late '90s.
G.I. Jane was seriously underrated
Unsurprisingly, when "G.I. Jane" was released one year later in 1997, it didn't exactly prove to be the raging success Disney had hoped. For Moore, the failure must have been disheartening — after all, she had trained for months and shaved her head. Plus, by all accounts, her performance is actually seriously impressive. "It's the performance of her career," said "G.I. Jane" screenwriter David Twohy to Yahoo Entertainment years later. "The movie rises or falls on her performance, and that required her to have a total, unflinching commitment to that part. And she had that commitment — I think she f***ing nailed it."
Unfortunately, audiences weren't ready to head back to the cinema to see Moore after "Striptease." "She should have been nominated for 'G.I. Jane,' and I think she would have been, too, if not for 'Striptease,'" Twohy said.
Not only did the film flop in the box office, but Moore's bad reputation from "Striptease" also led to backlash from the military community. "They weren't going to let me win," Moore later said of the film to The New York Times. "That, to the little girl in me — that was crushing." After two successive flops, Moore didn't exactly feel sorry to take a break from Hollywood.
She took a step back after her mother's death
Demi Moore's mother, Virginia Guynes, died in 1998 from cancer. This was another reason why Moore decided to take a pause in her career. According to The Birmingham Post, Moore's mother's illness was an emotionally difficult time for the whole family. In fact, Moore had been estranged from her mother for five years when she was diagnosed with the illness.
However, after Guynes was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Moore and her then-husband, Bruce Willis, decided to allow her to see their children. The family were with Guynes at her home in New Mexico when she died. "It hurts me that I haven't seen Scout and Tallulah Belle," Guynes said a few years earlier (via The Free Library). "I love kids so much. I was very close to Demi's first daughter, Rumer. The only pictures I have of Demi's two youngest are on a video somebody made me from a television program."
One of the reasons why Moore was estranged from her mother was likely their tumultuous relationship when Moore was young. Her mother was an alcoholic who was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Years later, Moore revealed in her memoir "Inside Out" that her mother had allegedly "sold" her at 15 to a man who raped her.
Demi Moore aged out of Hollywood roles
Hollywood is famous for its ageism against women. Numerous actors have spoken out about how impossible it can be to find work in the industry after reaching a certain age. And even Demi Moore, who had once been one of the biggest up-and-coming stars, faced this age-based prejudice.
"It's been a challenging few years, being the age I am," the actor told Red Magazine (via "Today"), adding, "There aren't that many good roles for women over 40. A lot of them don't have much substance, other than being someone's mother or wife."
Moore later reflected on this industry ageism once again. "They'd say they don't really know what to do with you, where to place you," she said to The New York Times in 2019 of her experience with a number of film executives. "I was like, 'Oh, well is that supposed to flatter me?'"
She married Ashton Kutcher, but they split in 2011
A big part of Demi Moore's life since her career slowed down was her relationship with actor Ashton Kutcher. At first, the relationship gave Moore a new lease on life. "I was a 40-year-old who had a big life," Moore wrote in "Inside Out" (via the Los Angeles Times). "And Ashton's adult life was just beginning — I didn't see all that because I was inside of it. I just felt like a 15-year-old girl hoping somebody liked me."
However, Kutcher allegedly encouraged Moore to drink even though she was sober. Moore also claimed that he cheated on her. Another rift came about when Moore miscarried a child during the marriage. "I can't even bring fully to words how lost, empty, desperate, confused [I was]," she said of the experience during an appearance on "Good Morning America" (via USA Today). The pair parted ways in 2011.
Demi Moore had a near-death seizure in 2012
Demi Moore has struggled with addiction throughout her life. "The problem was, when I did have a drink, I couldn't stop," she wrote in her memoir (via USA Today). In the '80s, she also did what she described as "a lot of cocaine." Moore went to rehab and has been sober ever since — however, in 2012, Moore relapsed. At a birthday party, she drank and used pot and nitrous oxide — it led to a seizure. "My daughter [was] terrified that she was gonna see me die right in front of her," she said in an interview with Diane Sawyer (via "Good Morning America"). Moore felt that she was "given a choice" of whether to live or die in that moment. "I think something had to give," she said. "When you come up to those places, you either go in or you go out."
The experience was a wake-up call for Moore, who decided to prioritize her health from that moment on.
She kept busy as a producer
Although Demi Moore doesn't do much acting these days, she is still working within the film and TV industry as a producer. She got her first producing credit in 1991 with "Mortal Thoughts." Since then, she's produced nine projects, including "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," "G.I. Jane," and Lifetime series "The Conversation."
As of 2024, her most recent project was "Dirty Diana," an erotic podcast. In 2020, she wrote about the project on Instagram. "Excited to finally share what I've been working on!" she wrote, alongside an image that showed her hunched over a laptop working on the show.
For Moore, the show gave her a chance to explore her sexuality in a new way. "I realize there's a part for me that my sexuality has felt like it's a dangerous, and that I should just keep it under wraps," she told Variety. "That I should keep it shut down, and it's better to just not negotiate or take it off the table. This has been an incredible opportunity of opening into areas that I'm not comfortable with. And that unto itself is already a gift."
Demi Moore wrote a memoir in 2019
In 2019, Demi Moore decided to give the world her version of her story, writing a memoir titled "Inside Out." It was Moore's third attempt at writing the book. The first time, her heart hadn't been in it. The second time, she had been in the middle of a tumultuous relationship with Ashton Kutcher and a relapse from her sobriety. The third time, "I just thought I can't not do it," she told Women's Wear Daily.
In the book, Moore revealed secrets about her childhood, her marriages, her addictions, and her family life that she had never shared before. In other words, the process of writing and releasing the book wasn't easy, "It's exciting, and yet I feel very vulnerable," she said to The New York Times. "There is no cover of a character. It's not somebody else's interpretation of me." As Moore explained, she didn't write the book for publicity — instead, it was an exercise in rediscovering herself. "It's more of an awakening than a comeback," she said.
She gave up Kabbalah and took a course in spiritual psychology
The release of Demi Moore's memoir in 2019 marked a new era of healing and reflection for the former Hollywood star. Moore had previously practiced Kabbalah, a part of the Jewish religion that believes in the mysticism of God. However, she eventually gave it up, finding that it had become somehwat corrupted by humanity. "[T]he human organization, which is human ... it's imperfect," she said of the religion to The New York Times, clarifying that there is "a lot of wisdom that I still really value."
However, she didn't give up her spiritualism altogether. In its place, she and her daughters embarked on a 10-month spiritual psychology course that delved into the links between religion, humanity, and the science of psychology. As Moore explained, the course was designed to teach "soul-centered living." Evidently, 2019 was a year of real soul-searching and self-care for Moore.
Demi Moore had a lazy, relaxed pandemic at home in Idaho
Just like the rest of us, Demi Moore found herself confined to her home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moore spent the pandemic in Idaho with her three daughters, along with her ex-husband, Bruce Willis, his wife Emma Heming Willis, and their two children.
By the sound of things, she fully committed to the lockdown lifestyle. In fact, it suited her natural tendencies: "[W]ho I am at heart is a grubby 12-year-old boy who really likes to just be comfortable and wear baggy clothes," she said to People at the time. She went on to explain that her lifestyle in Idaho tends to be hyper relaxed and low-key. "When I'm in Idaho, it's generally overalls all day, every day," she confessed. Sounds like Moore has well and truly left behind the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle — and it seems like she likes it that way!
She embraced turning 60 in 2022
Demi Moore turned 60 in 2022. As she told People, she welcomed the big birthday with open arms. "It feels very liberating," she said. "When I think of my grandmother at 60, she in a way seemed to be already resigned to being old. But I feel, in so many ways, more alive and present than ever." In fact, Moore embraced aging without caving to ageist stereotypes. "It's changing this idea that women become less desirable as we get older." As Moore explained, she planned on continuing to wear whatever she wanted — including sexy clothes — as she got older.
At 60, many consider Moore to be an icon thanks to her body of legendary work from the '80s and '90s — however, for Moore, who now lives a laid-back, simple life in Idaho, the label feels jarring. "To hear that in relation to yourself seems a bit out-of-body," she confessed. "I feel flattered and a bit like, 'That doesn't feel like me,' but I like it."
Demi Moore has struggled with her ex-husband's dementia
As of 2024, Demi Moore has a new worry — her ex-husband, Bruce Willis, is rapidly succumbing to aphasia, which was later diagnosed more specifically as frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The disease means that Willis is losing his memory. "Our family wanted to start by expressing our deepest gratitude for the incredible outpouring of love, support, and wonderful stories we have all received since sharing Bruce's original diagnosis," wrote Moore in a joint statement on Instagram with the rest of Willis' family in 2023.
As Willis' condition has worsened, Moore has struggled to come to terms with it. In 2023, an anonymous source told Closer Weekly, "Demi kept in touch with the kids and Bruce's wife, Emma Heming. But she had no idea he'd gone so far downhill." In fact, when she saw him again, she allegedly found that Willis barely recognized her. The source also claimed that Willis was becoming "aggressive" as his condition got worse.