CELEBS| Demi Moore: “My skin no longer fits the same but my life finally does”

There is much more in Demi Moore’s life than just nip and tuck. Now at 56, Hollywood actress, best known for the films St Elmo’s Fire, Ghost, Indecent Proposal and GI Jane, is happily getting into the spirit of letting her body grow old gracefully, ready to let audiences see her as she sees herself, without any barriers or artifices. And posing naked for the October issue of Harper’s Bazaar is just another way to prove it.

I find peace when I don’t see my body as my enemy – she said to Harper’s Bazaar- when I step back and have appreciation and look at all that my body has done for me. It’s allowed me to give birth to three beautiful children (Rumer, Tallulah Belle and Scout LaRue Willis), allowed me to explore different roles as an actor, and allowed me to be strong.

Her memoir “Inside Out” (coming out the 24th of September) is a journey of vulnerability, strength, and self-acceptance. Here, the movie star who has been also a trailblazer for women in Hollywood, breaking the film industry’s glass ceiling by becoming the first female actress to secure a $12 million paycheck (a salary once only paid to male actors), reveals details about her battle with addiction, issues with body image, her childhood trauma, divorces, and eventual isolation. As her success grew, Demi found herself questioning if she belonged in Hollywood, if she was a good mother, a good actress—and, always, if she was simply good enough.

I feel like I’ve been in an incubating period where I haven’t necessarily known what direction I was going to go in or what I was supposed to be doing. It can feel like you’re floating in the abyss- she said to InStyle- Now, with the book, I realise I am ambitious for a combination of things that aren’t external — self-love, self-acceptance, and self-forgiveness, and for real connection. I feel like I’m a caterpillar coming out of the cocoon. I’m going to be a butterfly.

Her attitude to her body has also rapidly changed as she has gotten older to more of a place of love and acceptance. Now focused on her health and the people around her, rather than her career, she shows maturity, wisdom and strength that only comes when we realise we can survive life’s toughest challenges. 

Things do change- she said-. The biggest difference, I think, is that I’m not in nearly as good shape physically as I have been before, and I have skin going in a direction that I would prefer it not go. There are things that just come with getting older. But I think my big mantra for this year is about acceptance. I do believe that when we hold upset, anger, hurt, pain or bitterness, it ages us and we wear it. That isn’t to say we are always going to feel happy. But it’s important not to hold on to things.

She has no miraculous beauty secrets to reveal except her love for raw foods and her passion for Pilates and yoga.

I definitely think beauty starts on the inside. You can do anything you want to the outside, but if the inside isn’t looking or feeling good, then I don’t know if anything you do on the outside is going to be good enough. My skin no longer fits the same but my life does – she said-. The reality is, the comfort I feel in my skin is the greatest gift. I’m really happy to be where I am. I think that laughter and smiling are some of the best antidotes to ageing that you could possibly have. In general, I pretty much think of myself as still being about 5.

In the end, gratitude really unlocks the fullness of life. It makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.