The 10 Best Demi Moore Performances, Ranked

When Demi Moore took to the stage to accept her rightful Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for “The Substance,” the 62-year-old announced that it was the first time she’d ever received an industry honor of this caliber despite having been working for over 45 years. “30 years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a popcorn actress,” she said, “and at that time, I made that mean that this wasn’t something that I was allowed to have.” She continued, “I bought in, and I believed that, and that corroded me over time, to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it.”

She added, “Maybe I was complete, maybe I’ve done what I was supposed to do and as I was at kind of a low point, I had this magical, bold, courageous, out-of-the-box, absolutely bonkers script come across my desk called ‘The Substance.'” As the universe told her: “You’re not done.” It’s high time that Demi Moore receives her flowers, but if you take a quick glance at her filmography, this industry acknowledgment is long overdue. To honor one of the best and hardest working women in the industry (and so much more than just a “popcorn actress”), we’re highlighting her 10 best performances, ranked.

At the 2022 Oscars, Ridley Scott’s “G.I. Jane” was thrust back into the spotlight 25 years after its initial release under unimaginable circumstances, and it was hard to not also remember the media frenzy that surrounded Demi Moore when she shaved her head for the role of Lieutenant Jordan O’Neil, the fictional character who, in the movie, became the first woman to undergo special operations training similar to the U.S. Navy SEALs. Upon release, “G.I. Jane” was a box office flop, and it certainly didn’t help that journalists and TV hosts (I’m looking at you, David Letterman) were more interested in talking to Moore about the “shocking” decision for such a beautiful woman to shave her head and “look like a man” than anything to do with the film.

And yet when you get past the inherent jingoism of a story like this, Moore delivers a phenomenal performance. Roger Ebert gave the film 3 ½ stars, and wrote “Demi Moore, having bitten off a great deal here, proves she can chew it.” In her memoir, Moore called the film her “proudest professional achievement,” which is a hell of a way to stick it to the embarrassment of an organization known as the Razzies who rudely awarded her “Worst Actress” (I suspect because they couldn’t escape the binary gender prison of Moore playing masculine). Admittedly, Scott’s film doesn’t go far enough into feminist politics as it could have (hey, it was 1997), but Moore gives it her absolute all in the role and is the only reason the film is worth watching.

Adapted for the screen by “Slumber Party Massacre” director Amy Holden Jones and directed by master of erotic cinema Adrian Lyne, “Indecent Proposal” was a ’90s box office smash where a mysterious billionaire played by Robert Redford offers a down-on-their-luck couple played by Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore $1 million if Redford can sleep with the wife. Given the state of the economy and the increasing number of people practicing ethical non-monogamy, “Indecent Proposal” as a premise seems almost laughable, but in 1993, this was the peak water cooler discussion in America. Would you willingly commit adultery if the price was right?

Much has been written about the feminist critique of men viewing women’s sexuality as a form of currency and the anti-sex work sentiments behind someone paying for sex presented as salacious or indecent, but the undeniable truth, regardless of your personal feelings about the film, is that Demi Moore is an absolute triumph. The movie prioritizes the perspectives of two insecure men fighting for alpha status, but the power of Moore’s performance prevents her character from becoming nothing more than a trophy. Learning after the fact that she had been biking about 60 miles a day to set after giving birth throughout production makes her delivery all the more impressive; imagining how exhausted she must have been while still maintaining a masterful control of nuanced emotional expression is nothing short of miraculous.

Amanda Kramer’s queer, musical noir fantasy is undoubtedly one of the best films on Demi Moore’s resume, and it’s a crime how many people didn’t catch this subversive masterpiece when it debuted in 2022. “Please Baby Please” is a pulpy, intelligent dissection of the idealized hypermasculinity of the 1950s and how masculinity was so extreme it crossed over into inherent queerness, but also a campy descent into sexual exploration. Moore’s Maureen is introduced like a seductive dommy mommy ready to step onto the red carpet if the occasion calls for it. “I ought to be famous, but I’m just married” is delivered with the glamorous snap of Golden Age Hollywood starlets, and her sublime appearance instantly elevates the film. I only wish we had more of her.

Rob Reiner and Aaron Sorkin’s “A Few Good Men” is primarily remembered as the military courtroom drama starring a ridiculously handsome Tom Cruise and a full-tilt performance by Jack Nicholson, but the heart of the film lies with Demi Moore’s Naval investigator and lawyer Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway. She’s once again tasked with acting her ass off and holding her own among an almost all-male cast, and she pulls it off. She’s not a love interest and she’s not a damsel in distress — instead, she’s the motivating factor to convince Cruise’s Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee to not just roll over and die when it looks like they’re going to lose their case. Granted, she’s actually a pretty terrible lawyer when looking at actual court cases, but Moore is such a powerhouse that the audience still loves her despite Sorkin writing her as an intransigent lawyer redeemed by the man who sweeps in to save the day. I strenuously object to anyone who thinks Moore isn’t making a meal out of some admittedly clunky “strong female character” dialogue here.

Folks often forget that The Brat Pack cinematic universe isn’t exclusive to movies John Hughes made about high schoolers, and one of the most fascinating is Edward Zwick’s feature directorial debut, the Chicago-soaked love story, “About Last Night.” Sure, it’s held hostage by outdated views on heterosexual relationship structures and gender-based reductionism as a rom-com from the ’80s, but Rob Lowe and Demi Moore are downright electrifying as the one-night-stand couple to root for, Danny Martin and Debbie Sullivan, and it’s mostly because no one knows how to make an audience see the good in an on-screen man loaded with red flags like Demi Moore.

Danny Martin is the furthest thing from perfect (my god, man, learn to COMMUNICATE!), but through Moore’s gaze, he might as well be on the cover of a romance novel exclusively read in airport terminals. As prickly as it is through a 2024 lens, “About Last Night” is a refreshingly honest look at two people trying to navigate their first real relationship, and the chemistry between Moore and Lowe is palpable, even when Moore is screaming at him “You don’t know what love is!” in the pouring rain. There’s a reason that the duo are two of the most active Brat Packers after all these years, and it’s because they’ve always had the “It” factor. When we talk about the finest romantic lead performances, Moore in “About Last Night” should absolutely be in contention as one of the very best.

When Walt Disney Animation Studios began their work on “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” the studio offered the role of Esmeralda to Demi Moore, who would deliver one of the best voiceover performances in the entire animation canon. While Heidi Mollenhauer provided Esmeralda’s singing voice, Moore’s signature sweet-with-a-subtle-rasp plays right into Esmeralda’s strengths, providing the perfect balance of empathy and strength. One moment she’s showcasing gentle kindness to Quasimodo, and the next, she’s calling for “Justice!” in the town square and defiling Judge Claude Frollo’s orders.

Recently, it’s been harder to get behind celebrity stunt casting in animated movies, but Moore’s delivery is a perfect example of an on-screen performer completely giving themselves over to the voiceover role. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else bringing Esmeralda to life (even if it would have been more appropriate to cast an actual Romani woman), and as fans crave a Disney heroine with as much boldness and bravery, Moore’s performance remains the gold standard.

Although her guest run on “Empire” only spanned seven episodes, Demi Moore certainly made her role as Nurse Claudia count. She’s initially introduced as the very hands-on rehabilitation therapist and psychologist helping Terrance Howard’s Lucious Lyon (she calls him by his government name, “Dwight”) through his recovery, but it’s quickly made apparent that she’s about to be the third point in a love triangle with Lucious and Cookie (Taraji P. Henson). During her character’s climactic ending, “Empire” dedicated an entire act to letting these three characters go after one another, a bit of an intimate chamber piece that the flashy series wasn’t known for exploring. Moore fluctuates between the hippie-dippie caretaker persona and the unhinged, obsessive, violent stalker she’s revealed to be with ease, and serves as a reminder to those watching at home that she can do absolutely anything. 

“Ghost” earned five nominations at the Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Original Score, and Best Film Editing, winning Best Supporting Actress for Whoopi Goldberg and Best Original Screenplay for Bruce Joel Rubin. However, if there was any justice in this world, Moore would have at least gotten a nomination for her performance as the grieving Molly Jensen. Considering the pottery scene has been memed to death at this point, it’s easy to forget how fantastic every performance is in this film, especially Moore, whose single tear streams have solidified her as one of cinema’s best on-screen criers.

Moore walks a delicate tightrope for the entire runtime, and even with the multiple tonal shifts incorporated throughout, she never wavers. She knew going into it that “Ghost” was going to be a huge risk, telling Vanity Fair, “This could be amazing or this could really be a disaster, and that’s really exciting.” Fortunately, “Ghost” was a massive success, and it’s due in large part to Moore’s stunning, vulnerable, charismatic performance … and that legendary pixie cut. 

The HBO television anthology film “If These Walls Could Talk” tackles three stories set in different time periods, all dealing with abortion. It’s become notorious for the final segment which sees Matthew Lillard as an anti-abortion protestor who shoots and kills a doctor played by Cher, but all three stories are unafraid to highlight the massive emotional turmoil that comes with a lack of safe, affordable access to abortion. Moore stars in the first segment set in 1952, when a widowed nurse in Chicago is forced to have an at-home abortion due to the criminality of the procedure and the extreme costs of traveling out of the country to pursue one. While all three segments are powerful in their own right, the harrowing journey of Moore’s Claire Donnelly is the one that painfully feels the most relevant.

She is fearless in her willingness to authentically portray the lengths people are willing to go to terminate their pregnancies and the heartbreaking end so many people meet when governments don’t allow people to make medical decisions for themselves. Moore also served as a producer on the project, which took years to get made because studios and broadcasters were nervous about platforming the subject matter. It’s a bleak watch, but a necessary one, and features Moore at the top of her game. Her final moment is devastating, and the fact Moore didn’t take home an acting statue for “If These Walls Could Talk” is downright criminal.

It feels like everything Demi Moore has ever done, on-screen and off, has been leading up to her portrayal of Elisabeth Sparkle in Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance.” Despite having earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Elisabeth’s career is imploding after she committed the unholy industry crime of Not Being 20 Anymore. When she’s given the opportunity to reclaim some of her glory years by taking The Substance and splitting her consciousness into two, the result is a dynamic performance that is sexy, visceral, heart-wrenching, hilarious, and mesmerizing in equal measure. Her ability to deliver The Mirror Scene and the grotesque French cooking scene within the same film is a testament to her immeasurable talent.

“The Substance” is like a fairy tale about body dysmorphia, misogyny, ageism, and the role Hollywood plays in perpetuating these insecurities on the masses, but it’s also so damn fun. Moore has an intimate understanding of what it would be like to be Elisabeth Sparkle because, to an extent, she is Elisabeth Sparkle.

Demi Moore is an incredible actress, but she’s also someone who has been in the midst of tabloid fodder for nearly half a century. She has been consumed and perceived by millions of strangers on a level that the human mind can’t even begin to process, and she found a way to channel that into not just one of the best performances of 2024, but the best performance of her career.