Demi Moore Revels in Being Hollywood's 'Queen of Subversion'

Demi Moore has never been one to shrink away from the spotlight. Throughout her career, dating back to the early ’80s as Jackie Templeton on General Hospital and with movie roles in the sports drama Choices and ‘Brat Pack’ breakout hit St. Elmo’s Fire, the Roswell, New Mexico native has continued to captivate audiences with her dramatic acting chops and striking beauty.

But, after the compelling success of her 2024 body horror filmThe Substance and the forthcoming release of her newest film project,I Love Boosters, Moore has taken a break with V Magazine for its Summer 2026 issue to reflect on living life on the fringes, or as she and fellow Boosters co-star Keke Palmer discuss for Moore’s V cover story, being a “demimonde.” (Hence, a fitting word considering the latter’s first name.)

“It’s the idea of someone who’s on the outside — who’s in the frame, who travels with the elite, but is also on the outside. Someone who doesn’t belong to one definition. Someone who has freedom in how she exists and is untouched by convention,” says Moore of the word’s definition to Palmer.

There was a time, however, when Moore was hesitant to express her true self, particularly amongst her acting peers, as she was just starting out. The Golden Globes award winner explains, “… I didn’t come from a background of training, and I didn’t grow up in school doing plays. I didn’t have a foundation to fall on, like a barometer. I was flying by the seat of my pants, which can feel a little bit like, Did I get it? Did it work? This is when I was really young, I was almost afraid to be in an acting class, because I thought that if they told me I wasn’t any good, I’d be told that I couldn’t do it well.”

Moore goes on to say she’s taken on the “demimonde” title for as long as she can recall. She confidently tells Palmer, “I think I’ve always existed in this energy, even though the outsides had not yet manifested, and that the drive I had was innate. The passion, the curiosity, was innate. I also understand, on an emotional level, that I was looking to feel like I belonged. I wanted to be a part of a community. For whatever reason, instinctively, this felt like a place to try to find that.”

Still, after all of these years, it appears the “Queen of Subversion” has found her place as a talented, thoughtful, and compassionate person within Hollywood and as a part of the human race. Moore begins to recall, “I was thinking about Oscar night, and there was a moment at the end when it was kind of chaotic, and we were trying to navigate to get back to the hotel without getting crushed in the crowd. And there was another actress who was looking a little bit lost, and knowing that, I stopped to take the time to say, Where are you going? Are you going this way? Come with us. And it gave me a real moment where I’m like, not just worried about me.”

“At the Oscars, it was like, wait, I had a real moment. I was a human being. And it just grounds you, because you know you’re there, you’re alive, you’re not just a part of the mechanism, especially at the Academy Awards.”