Going into the 2025 Academy Awards, Demi Moore had become a favorite for the Best Actress category. The 62-year-old’s portrayal of an aging, insecure actress deemed past her prime who took a black-market drug to try to become a “younger, more beautiful, more perfect” version of herself in the body horror The Substance earned Moore best actress accolades at the Golden Globe Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
But it wasn’t enough to take Hollywood’s most coveted prize: an Oscar, which went instead to Mikey Madison, the 25-year-old Anora star.
Read More: See Where Mikey Madison Fits in the List of Youngest Academy Award-Winning Actors
A number of social media users quickly called out what they saw as ironic parallels to the theme of Moore’s film.
“wow demi moore getting passed up for a younger brighter star someone should make a movie about this,” said a popular post on X.
“Demi Moore losing to Mikey Madison is basically the plot of the Substance,” posted ESPN staff writer Paolo Uggetti. “Mikey Madison was absolutely amazing but her beating Demi Moore feels like the plot of The Substance,” posted TV personality Roxy Striar.
“mikey madison winning is very pro-substance if you think about it,” posted Vulture writer E. Alex Jung, while writer and podcaster Joan Summers similarly posted: “i’m not pitting women against each other i am a working writer and not a stan in case weirdos read this: mikey winning best actress is such an interesting way to close out the demi moore press cycle for the substance. life imitates art etc.”
But while many fans are disappointed that Moore, who has had decades of work reduced to “popcorn” acting, remains Oscar-less, the actress previously told the New York Times that she isn’t dwelling on recognition or lack of it. “Whatever happens, I just keep focusing on remembering not to make it mean too much, but also not to make it mean too little,” she said. “But I can enjoy all of it.”
She also noted in the same interview that she wanted the role because it had resonated with her own career—but it wasn’t a unique experience. “Women being marginalized at a certain age, particularly in the entertainment industry,” Moore said, “is the least-new information of the entire movie.”
