Demi Moore's Horrifying Battle with Shingles and Weight Loss During Filming

Demi Moore recently revealed the extreme physical toll filming her latest horror movie took on her, including developing shingles and losing 20 pounds within a week. The actress plays a 50-year-old celebrity who temporarily makes herself younger with an experimental drug in "The Substance."

Demi Moore's latest role as a 50-year-old celebrity in the horror film "The Substance" came at a significant physical cost for the actress. Moore developed shingles and lost 20 pounds within a week of filming.

In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Moore disclosed the impact the role had on her health. "To give you an idea of the intensity, my first week that I actually had off, where it was just Margaret (Qualley) working, I got shingles," Moore told the outlet. "And I then lost, like, 20 pounds."

Demi Moore's Horrifying Battle with Shingles and Weight Loss During Filming

Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful rash, typically appearing as a single stripe of blisters wrapping around one side of the torso. It's caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus responsible for chickenpox.

Moore's co-star Margaret Qualley, who portrays Moore's clone in the film, also experienced physical challenges during filming. "Oh, yeah, I had crazy acne for a full, long-ass time," Qualley added.

Demi Moore's Horrifying Battle with Shingles and Weight Loss During Filming

Despite the difficulties, Moore emphasized the importance of giving her all to the role, saying, "You have to walk away feeling that you put it all on the table."

The actress previously opened up about age discrimination in Hollywood during an interview with Interview magazine. Moore felt like she didn't belong at one point in her career after the release of "Charlie's Angels."

Demi Moore's Horrifying Battle with Shingles and Weight Loss During Filming

"I had done ‘Charlie’s Angels,’ and there was a lot of conversation around this scene in a bikini, and it was all very heightened, a lot of talk about how I looked," Moore told the outlet. "And then I found that there didn’t seem to be a place for me. I didn’t feel like I didn’t belong. It’s more like I felt that feeling of, ‘I’m not 20, I’m not 30,’ but I wasn’t yet what they perceived as a mother."

In her new film, Moore explores the issue of aging and societal conditioning through the lens of a woman who undergoes an experimental treatment to regain her youth.

Demi Moore's Horrifying Battle with Shingles and Weight Loss During Filming

"At the core of it, what it’s really about is what we do to ourselves, and I loved that it was illustrated in such a physical way, showing that violence with what we do with our thoughts, how we attack ourselves and distort things," Moore said.

Moore, who has been dubbed a "sex symbol" throughout her career, further discussed ageism in Hollywood during a chat with Kelly Ripa on her podcast "Let's Talk Off Camera."

"I realize I really like being busy. And you said something earlier, ‘Oh, my career’s always been on fire.' And I will tell you that’s actually not true. When I hit 40, I feel like they didn’t know what to do with me," she told Ripa.

Moore said she was told she looked "too young" to play certain parts, but not young enough for others. "And I literally, I was told, ‘We don’t really know what to do with you.' What’s been interesting, seeing the shift we’ve gone through," Moore said.

Despite these challenges, Moore believes streaming services are creating opportunities for older women in the industry.

"I feel like women in their 40s — it’s a shift in perception — but I was part of the transitioning crowd, and they were a bit like, ‘We don’t have anything for you.’" she said. "Now there is a huge demographic that wants to be served. That’s powerful women and, in some cases, women not 30, women not 40, women in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and it’s exciting."