Demi Moore gets shingles, loses 20 pounds while filming of The Substance

Demi Moore has gotten shingles and lost 20 pounds while the filming of the movie, The Substance.

The 61-year-old actress told the Los Angeles Times that she got shingles while taking a break from filming The Substance. "To give you an idea of the intensity (of filming), the first week that it was just Margaret (Qualley) I got shingles," Moore said, adding that she lost 20 pounds.

Her co-star Qualley also noted in the interview that she also faced challenges while filming the movie, including "crazy acne" that she battled "for a long time."

Director Coralie Fargeat shared in an interview that she wanted to highlight the difficulties of dealing with one’s own body and the changes that come with it.

“I recently read an article about the film that said, ‘Being a woman is body horror,’” Fargeat said. “The film can be scary on many levels, but the first is that it plays with the violence done to one’s own body.”

The Substance reflects these themes. In the movie, Moore plays Hollywood star Elizabeth Sparkle, who uses an experimental drug to create a younger version of herself—ultimately, her clone Sue, played by Qualley.