If you’re not familiar with the new Netflix original, it centres around a young widow whose life changes when she accidentally brings a snowman to life with a magic scarf (yes, really), only to discover that, as the title suggests, he’s actually extremely hot.
And for those who are familiar with Hot Frosty, you might have found yourself pondering exactly where you’ve seen certain members of the cast before.
Well, wonder no more. Here’s a quick guide to where you recognise the stars of Hot Frosty from…
Lacey Chabert
Lacey Chabert’s most famous role is as Regina George’s second-in-command, Gretchen Wieners, in the cult teen comedy Mean Girls (y’know, the one whose dad invented toaster strudel).
Advertisement
As well as playing Gretchen, Lacey is also a voice actor, playing Eliza Thornberry in the animated series The Wild Thornberrys and originating the role of Meg Griffin in Family Guy, before Mila Kunis took over the character.
The US star is also no stranger to a Christmas movie or two, appearing in *deep breath* A Christmas Melody, All I Want For Christmas Is You, Black Christmas, A Royal Christmas and The Three That Saved Christmas, to name but a few.
Dustin Milligan
Dustin Milligan plays the titular Hot Frosty, and will be familiar to Schitt’s Creek fans for his portrayal as Ted Mullens in all six seasons of the Emmy-winning comedy.
The Canadian performer got his start in the teen drama 90210 as Ethan Ward, and has since appeared in X Company, A Simple Favor and the star-studded reality show RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race.
Advertisement
Craig Robinson
Craig Robinson was previously nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award alongside the rest of his co-stars in The Office, in which he played warehouse foreman Darryl Philbin.
He’s also known for his work on Mr Robot and his many collaborations with Seth Rogen, which have included Pineapple Express, This Is The End and the X-rated animated comedy Sausage Party.
More recently, he fronted the US version of The Masked Dancer and took the lead in the comedy Killing It, on which he was also executive producer.
Joe Lo Truglio
Advertisement
If you’ve seen the police comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the chances are you remember Joe for his portrayal of detective Charles Boyle, the right-hand man of Andy Samberg’s character.
As well as his own career as a stand-up, Joe also has roles in a number of hit American comedies including Superbad, Role Models, Wet Hot American Summer and I Love You, Man.
Before venturing into the world of real estate, Chrishell was a US soap star, with long-standing roles in both All My Children and Days Of Our Lives.
Since her new-found rise to fame, she’s also competed on Dancing With The Stars and the US version of The Traitors.
Advertisement
Katy Mixon
Katy’s TV work has included leading roles in American Housewife and Eastbound And Down.
Comedy fans might remember her from her performance opposite Melissa McCarthy in Mike And Molly or her short stint in Two And A Half Men.
Like co-star Lacey, Hot Frosty is also not Katy’s first time at the festive rodeo, as she previously appeared alongside Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn in the comedy Four Christmases.
Lauren Holly
Again, Lauren already had plenty of Christmas films to her name before being cast in Hot Frosty, such as The Town That Christmas Forgot, Christmas Catch and Country Roads Christmas.
Advertisement
NCIS devotees will also remember her for her role as Jenny Shepard in three seasons of the police drama, while her additional film work has included Dumb And Dumber and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.
More recently, she also played Monique in Tiny Pretty Things and Joanne Kowalski in Family Law.
Sherry Miller
Like Hot Frosty co-star Dustin Milligan, Sherry will be a familiar face to Schitt’s Creek fans thanks to her two-episode stint as Bev in the hit Canadian comedy.
Prior to that, she was part of the US remake of Queer As Folk, playing Justin’s mother, Jennifer Taylor.
During a new interview with SiriusXM, Hugh was asked if there were any details he could share about the forthcoming movie.
“I haven’t seen it, but obviously I know the script,” the Bafta winner began. “I’m a harsh judge of scripts, and it was really good. Really moving, as well as funny.
“Helen Fielding, who wrote the Bridget books, this [story] is based on her own experience of losing her husband and bringing up her kids alone. So it’s got a huge amount of heart. It made me cry.”
Advertisement
“Have I made it sound too dark? It’s also extremely funny,” he quickly added.
","type":"video","meta":{"author":"SiriusXM","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC49ta0RHXJUiID5KWRkcySw","cache_age":86400,"description":"Hugh Grant teases ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.’\n\nHear more from Radio Andy on our app! Click here for your trial subscription: https://siriusxm.com/yt/freetrial\n\nSee more from The Jess Cagle Show here\nhttps://sxm.app.link/JessCagleShowVideo\n\nSubscribe to SiriusXM on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/siriusxm\n\nConnect with SiriusXM Online\nFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/siriusxm\nTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/siriusxm\nInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/siriusxm\n\n#SiriusXM #Sirius","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cQ9VUQpmLPs/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Hugh Grant Cried Filming ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’","type":"video","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ9VUQpmLPs","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"673725c8e4b09ca14b3cbe02","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/hugh-grant-says-new-bridget-jones-film-made-him-cry_uk_673725c8e4b09ca14b3cbe02","entryTagsList":"ukfilm,hugh-grant,bridget-jones","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":7},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"673725c8e4b09ca14b3cbe02","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"ukfilm","slug":"ukfilm","links":{"relativeLink":"news/ukfilm","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Film","slug":"ukfilm","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm/"},{"name":"hugh grant","slug":"hugh-grant","links":{"relativeLink":"news/hugh-grant","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/hugh-grant","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/hugh-grant"},"relegenceId":2800666,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/hugh-grant/"},{"name":"Bridget Jones","slug":"bridget-jones","links":{"relativeLink":"news/bridget-jones","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/bridget-jones","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/bridget-jones"},"relegenceId":3515357,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/bridget-jones/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["
Back in September, Hugh reflected on his decision not to return for Bridget Jones’s Baby, claiming: “I really couldn’t fit my character in – he just didn’t belong, so I stepped aside.”
In his new interview, the Heretic star elaborated further on his absence from the third Bridget Jones movie, recalling: “It had a great set-up, that she’s pregnant, and doesn’t know whether it’s Darcy’s baby or Daniel’s baby. That was marvellous.
“But I could never work out how Daniel would handle either being a father, or not being a father. Couldn’t make him work. And we went through agony, months and months, and in the end I said, ‘I think I’d better sit this one out’. So I did. And they made a wonderful film anyway.”
Bridget Jones’s Baby actually opens at Daniel Cleaver’s funeral, although the end of the movie hints the character may still be alive after all, which, of course, turns out to be the case in film number four.
Advertisement
While Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy will be a streaming exclusive in the US, it’s due to hit UK cinemas on Friday 14 February 2025.
Hugh Grant has revealed Quentin Tarantino surprised him when he revealed his favourite film from the British actor’s vast back catalogue.
In a new interview with Letterboxd, the Heretic star recalled a “weird experience” at an event in London, in which a “sweaty person pushed his way through the crowd to me”, only to reveal himself as the Pulp Fiction filmmaker.
“To my enormous surprise, he said, ‘Oh, man, I love Music And Lyrics’,” Hugh continued.
“He said he watched it on a plane, and was so disappointed that the plane landed before the film ended, that he had to quickly go and order it from Blockbuster or something. And I thought, ‘Surely not, not Quentin Tarantino’…?”
Music And Lyrics featured Hugh as a former 80s music icon, who leans on an unlikely source when he’s tasked with writing a new song for a modern-day pop star.
Elsewhere in his Letterboxd interview, Hugh opened up about shooting those musical scenes, admitting: “[The dancing in Music And Lyrics] was hell, because it was freeform, just kind of ‘express yourself’, ‘enjoy the music’, ‘feel it’ like a real rock star, and I’m so not that person, and I really struggled with that.
“I had to have my charming makeup lady in New York bring me little swigs of whisky in a 7Up bottle and a certain amount of lorazepam to really get in the mood for that one.”
In a recent episode of insider showbiz podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, co-host Marina Hyde said it’s Hollywood’s “most successful genre bar none,” adding that a third of the 50 most profitable (not highest-grossing, but best return on investment) movies in Hollywood history are horror.
Advertisement
Even I can accept that some people like the spooky scenes I so loathe ― but why is horror such a money-maker when people love action, comedy, and romance too?
Part of it has to do with production costs
Marina mentioned The Blair Witch Project, which mainly used “found footage” (video shot from one of the actors’ camcorders), and Paranormal Activity, which made use of CCTV clips.
Blumhouse, a big-name horror production company, are “ruthless” with their budget and don’t want to really go over $20 million, the journalist said.
“Horror is thriving, really thriving,” Marina added, suggesting that fans of the genre will drop a bit more dosh than, say, a rom-com lover.
Advertisement
“Audiences go to cinemas for horror… Horror fans want to see stuff in theatres, she said, later adding: “People want to be scared together.”
Then, there are the casts to consider ― you’re simply less likely to see a high-budget A-lister in a horror, meaning you can save on actors’ salaries.
Blumhouse movies “don’t have big stars,” for instance, Marina’s co-host Richard Osman said. “You don’t need to be spending $25 million on actors.”
After all, what truly makes a movie scary ― mystery, suspense, scary noises, and dim screens ― aren’t exactly budget-busters.
Anything else?
The American Film Market crunched the numbers on horror movies and said that while “on average, documentaries stay in theatres for almost 5 weeks… horror movies are gone in half that time.”
Advertisement
They add that “What this means in practice is that horror films are much more reliant on their opening weekend to make money than other genres, and therefore much more reliant on good marketing, and a measure of luck.”
Still, they say, horror seems to be the most profitable ― bad news for me personally, but great news for studio execs.
Actor Richard E. Grant has spoken out about the team members in a film studio that he feels don’t get the appreciation that they deserve.
The Withnail and I star was asked which job on a film set is the most under-appreciated and without taking a breath, he responded: “The runners.”
He went on to say that they are paid the least, are often the youngest and arrive at the studio at 5am and are still the last to leave at the end of the day.
He then added: “If anything goes, wrong, they get shit on from a dizzy height.
“I know because my daughter was a runner for two years, and was appallingly treated by some well-known household names in England.”
He revealed that these actors “changed their tune” when they found out who his daughter’s father was, adding that this made it worse for him, saying: “It made me damn those people even more.”
Finally, Richard admitted that he did actually confront one of the actors for their treatment of his daughter.
While he didn’t drop any names, it doesn’t appear that he’ll be forgiving them any time soon.
If you’re from a certain generation, you’ve likely spent the final months of the year in an ongoing debate about whether the 1993 flick The Nightmare Before Christmas counts as a Halloween or Christmas film.
No, you can’t say both.
Unlike most silly debates, there are two healthy points of view here — the film is exploring the themes of Christmas and what it means to families and communties.
Advertisement
However, crucially… It’s set in a place called Halloween Town which is inhabited by traditionally scary creatures that count down to Halloween every year.
However, the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas weighed in on this debate and I’m sorry to all the Christmas fans but you might be disappointed…
If you’ve ever found yourself embroiled in this debate, we have exactly the bit of trivia you need.
When the director was asked whether he considers it to be a Christmas or Halloween film at a 2015 Q&A at Colorado’s Telluride Horror Show film festival, he said: “Oh, boy, it’s a Halloween movie.”
Advertisement
So that’s that. We can debate over other things this festive season, like whether Love Actually is good, actually.
While we’re on the topic of The Nightmare Before Christmas…
It was Henry Sellick that directed the film and not Tim Burton, as many people believe. Tim wrote the story but the direction was all down to Henry, who also directed Coraline.
Speaking about this common misconception in 2022, Henry said: ”[It] was a little unfair because it wasn’t called Tim Burton’s [The Nightmare Before Christmas] until three weeks before the film came out.
“And I would have been fine with that, if that’s what I signed up for. But Tim was in LA making two features while I directed that film.”
Let’s consider the record straight: it’s a Halloween film, directed by Henry Sellick.
This article contains major spoilers for Joker: Folie À Deux.
Joker director Todd Phillips has opened up about Folie À Deux’s shock ending.
The new sequel stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, taking viewers on a two-hour journey that’s part jukebox musical, part gritty prison movie, part courtroom drama and part dystopian political satire.
After all of that, the film ends on a shocking note with Joaquin’s Arthur Fleck being killed by a fellow patient, credited simply as Young Inmate in Arkham, who tells him a nonsensical joke before stabbing him repeatedly in the stomach.
Advertisement
This unidentified patient, played by Connor Storrie, then goes on to mutilate his own face while laughing off screen, suggesting that he is actually the Joker character known in the Batman comics, instead of Arthur, as had previously been assumed.
Grim, right?
During an interview with IGN, Todd confirmed this theory to be the case, revealing the scene was partly inspired by one major criticism of the first Joker film in which Joaquin encounters Bruce Wayne as a young boy.
“One of the things that people never understood about the first movie was, ‘I don’t get it. He visits Bruce Wayne and he’s 30 years older than Bruce Wayne. What kind of geriatric Joker is going to fight in the future?’,” the filmmaker said.
Advertisement
“I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the script of the first movie. The first film is called Joker. It’s not called The Joker, it’s called Joker.”
Todd continued: “The first film under the script always said ‘An origin story’. It never said the origin story. It was this idea that maybe this isn’t the Joker. Maybe this is the inspiration for the Joker.
“So, in essence at the end of this movie, the thing you’re being left with is ‘Wait, what is that thing happening behind him? Is that the guy?’.”
Meanwhile, Todd also confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that a scene towards the end of the film in which Harvey Dent’s face is disfigured in the courtroom bombing is intended as a new origin story for the Batman villain Two Face.
Advertisement
“All we’re doing is saying, let’s use this lore as a foundation, but run it through a realistic lens, or at least a different lens than it’s been run through in other things, to make it our own,” he said, claiming that Industry actor Harry Lawtey is “playing the character before that character” in Folie À Deux.
There’s no business like show business. And given that screen legend Meryl Streep says she once missed out on a massive movie role for being “ugly”, I’m not sure I’m interested in any operation like it.
The star revealed on The Graham Norton Show back in 2015 that she missed out on a huge role in 1976′s King Kong remake because of her looks.
Advertisement
The son of the film’s director Dino De Laurentiis had seen Meryl in a play and took her to meet his father.
“He had this amazing office that looked all over Manhattan,” she explained.
“I walked in and his son was sitting there, very excited that he’d brought in this new actress. And the father said to his son in Italian, because I understand Italian, he said, ‘che brutta’, you know, ‘why do you bring me this ugly thing?’.”
","type":"video","meta":{"author":"The Graham Norton Show","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4PziMH5MvvsmqM0VCZTy-g","cache_age":86400,"description":"Meryl Streep recounts the time when she arrived to audition for Dino De Laurentiis in New York, only to be told in Italian that she was too ugly to appear in the film. \n\n\n\n#TheGNShow #TheGrahamNortonShow #GrahamNorton\n\nFollow us!\n\nFacebook – https://www.facebook.com/thegrahamnortonshow/?ref=page_internal \nInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/thegrahamnortonshowofficial/\nTwitter – https://twitter.com/TheGNShowFollow us here:\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegrahamnortonshow/\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegrahamnortonshowofficial/\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/TheGNShow\nTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thegnshow\nSnapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/The_Graham_Norton_Show/3773416663","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GW0PMN6VAlg/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Meryl Streep ‘Not Pretty Enough’ To Be In King Kong – The Graham Norton Show","type":"video","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW0PMN6VAlg","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"66fd528ce4b0d70dca9fd9fa","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/meryl-streep-king-kong-rejection-ugly_uk_66fd528ce4b0d70dca9fd9fa","entryTagsList":"ukfilm,celebrities,hollywood,meryl-streep,jessica-lange","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":6},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"66fd528ce4b0d70dca9fd9fa","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"ukfilm","slug":"ukfilm","links":{"relativeLink":"news/ukfilm","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Film","slug":"ukfilm","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm/"},{"name":"Celebrities","slug":"celebrities","links":{"relativeLink":"news/celebrities","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/celebrities","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/celebrities"},"relegenceSubjectId":978489,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/celebrities/"},{"name":"Hollywood","slug":"hollywood","links":{"relativeLink":"news/hollywood","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/hollywood","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/hollywood"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/hollywood/"},{"name":"Meryl Streep","slug":"meryl-streep","links":{"relativeLink":"news/meryl-streep","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/meryl-streep","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/meryl-streep"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/meryl-streep/"},{"name":"Jessica Lange","slug":"jessica-lange","links":{"relativeLink":"news/jessica-lange","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/jessica-lange","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/jessica-lange"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/jessica-lange/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["
While she called the experience “sobering” as a “young girl”, she added that she quickly responded to the director in Italian.
Advertisement
“I said to him… I understand what you’re saying, I’m sorry I’m not beautiful enough to be in King Kong,” she joked.
In case you’re wondering, the role of Dwan in the 1976 movie ended up going to fellow Academy Award winner, and American Horror Story star Jessica Lange.
“I was always in plays, but I thought it was vain to be an actress. Plus, I thought I was too ugly to be an actress. Glasses weren’t fabulous then,” she explained.
Still, she seems to have moved on from those early worries.
“For young women, I would say, don’t worry so much about your weight,” she advised the graduating students.
Advertisement
“Girls spend way too much time thinking about that, and there are better things. For young men and women too, what makes you different or weird, that’s your strength… I used to hate my nose. Now I don’t. It’s OK.”
“I think the most liberating thing I did early on was to free myself from any concern with my looks as they pertained to my work,” Meryl Streep told Vogue in 2002.
“For an actress, worrying about appearance is a horrible, horrible trap. It’s great for acting to be unconscious of how you look and to be willing to mess up how you look, and see what that does to people.”
If you’ve seen The Substance in a cinema over the last week, the chances are you’re still thinking about some of the film’s more extreme moments, mulling over the amazing performances from Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley or perhaps just trying to wrap your head around exactly what it is you just watched.
But if you’re anything like us, you might have also been pondering exactly how such a uniquely stylised film – with all of its stomach-churning body horror and physically demanding sequences – came to be.
Advertisement
Well, you need wonder no more. From the script to the screen, here are 17 behind-the-scenes facts you probably never knew about how The Substance actually got made…
First of all, director Coralie Fargeat fully never expected Demi Moore to say yes when she first sent her the script
“To be honest, when her name came up, you know, when we were thinking about actresses, I said, ‘Oh, forget it. She will never want to do something like that. Let’s not lose time, you know’,” Coralie admitted to People magazine at the initial premiere of The Substance.
Advertisement
“And then I said, ‘Well, we have nothing to lose. Let’s just send the script’.”
And it’s a good thing she did, because we truly can’t imagine any of Demi’s peers playing Elisabeth Sparkle quite like she did.
Lead actors Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley already had a bit of a connection before they were cast
Of course, Demi worked with Margaret’s mum, Andie MacDowell, almost 40 years ago in St. Elmo’s Fire.
However, there was another connection, as Margaret was also friendly with the Ghost star’s children, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah Willis, so before they were even on set, she told People “we felt like we knew each other”.
In keeping with the types of films that inspired it, Coralie was keen to rely mostly on practical effects rather than computer trickery, CGI or AI
“I would sometimes suggest we use VFX and she would immediately say no, because she doesn’t like VFX,” prosthetics designer Pierre-Olivier Persin told GQ.
Advertisement
“It’s really a movie about our bodies and about the reality of how we feel in our bodies. I needed to speak to the reality of the way our flesh can reflect our mental deformation, and I knew this had to exist for real,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
One of the film’s only bits of CGI came at the end, when Demi Moore’s screaming face was added to the back of Monstro Elisasue, a character who was otherwise achieved entirely with prosthetics.
","type":"video","meta":{"author":"MUBI","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb6-VM5UQ4Czj_d3m9EPGfg","cache_age":86400,"description":"30 Days of Great Cinema Free: https://mubi.com/youtube\n\nSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://mubi.io/2XVL0VN\nFollow us on Instagram: http://mubi.tv/299eJ7G\nFollow us on Twitter: http://mubi.tv/1PcdRyO\nFollow us on Facebook: http://mubi.tv/29adiHj \nFollow us on TikTok: https://mubi.io/3w30MSP","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5eb7Xqt92Os/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"THE SUBSTANCE | Official Trailer | In Cinemas September 20","type":"video","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eb7Xqt92Os","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"66f6d3b6e4b0632d68f6c1e8","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/17-behind-the-scenes-facts-the-substance-demi-moore-margaret-qualley_uk_66f6d3b6e4b0632d68f6c1e8","entryTagsList":"ukfilm,demi-moore,the-substance,margaret-qualley,dennis-quaid","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":25},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"66f6d3b6e4b0632d68f6c1e8","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"ukfilm","slug":"ukfilm","links":{"relativeLink":"news/ukfilm","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Film","slug":"ukfilm","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm/"},{"name":"Demi Moore","slug":"demi-moore","links":{"relativeLink":"news/demi-moore","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/demi-moore","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/demi-moore"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/demi-moore/"},{"name":"the substance","slug":"the-substance","links":{"relativeLink":"news/the-substance","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/the-substance","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/the-substance"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/the-substance/"},{"name":"margaret qualley","slug":"margaret-qualley","links":{"relativeLink":"news/margaret-qualley","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/margaret-qualley","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/margaret-qualley"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/margaret-qualley/"},{"name":"Dennis Quaid","slug":"dennis-quaid","links":{"relativeLink":"news/dennis-quaid","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/dennis-quaid","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/dennis-quaid"},"relegenceId":2787942,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/dennis-quaid/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["
Meanwhile, realistic dummies were also constructed to help with the “birthing” scenes.
“We had quite sophisticated silicon dummies. We had two for the birth. We also had matching prosthetic makeup on the body double and some days we applied the makeup on Demi,” Pierre-Olivier told Marie Claire.
One thing that wasn’t real was the film’s Hollywood setting, though
Coralie explained to Rue Morgue: “We shot 100 percent of the movie in France.Cinema, to me, is the art of illusion, and that’s what I really enjoy when I make my films, to be able to cheat stuff.
Advertisement
“So the house was entirely shot on a set, on a stage. A huge part of our prep was deciding how we were going to recreate the view of Hollywood [from Elisabeth’s large window]. It was a major research-and-development thing, thinking about different techniques and finally using the one that would give the most life and the greatest sensation of being inside the location.”
She added that rather than recreating a “realistic” Hollywood, she wanted to “create my version of Hollywood, the one that we all have in our unconscious minds”, putting together a “kind of enhanced vision of Hollywood that fit the story”.
Demi Moore’s prosthetics journey took her character through five different stage, with each part having its own nickname
These were known – pretty self-explanatorily – as “Requiem” (inspired by Ellen Burstyn’s character in Requiem For A Dream), “The Finger”, “Gollum”, “Monstro” and “Gremlin”.
Advertisement
Before Elisabeth’s decline begins, Pierre-Olivier admits that he and Coralie clashed over how the character should look.
“I had a bit of a fight with the director because I told her that she had to be beautiful in the beginning,” he revealed to Marie Claire.
“It had to be like, ‘Why would they [fire her]?’ Because she has everything, she’s beautiful, she still has a show that’s going on very well – so I wanted for her to be sparkling and beautiful.
“Coralie was telling me, ‘No, no, no, she cannot,’ and I said, ‘Coralie, I have to have the time for her to go down deep before she has all the prosthetics and all of that’.”
Advertisement
If you’re wondering, all those prosthetics could take Demi Moore as long as six hours to put on
And then another two hours to take them off without doing any damage to the actor’s skin which, in the middle of a tightly-scheduled film shoot, is pretty important.
Margaret Qualley really struggled with her own prosthetics
“It was torture,” she told USA Today. “I had this awesome team of prosthetic artists that put it on me and took it off of me and got me through the day and made me laugh a couple of times while I was just on the brink of panic.
“I only have one eye. I can’t hear anything. I can’t move my arms. I’ve got these retainers in that are like too huge, they just kind of cut everything. It was grueling to embody.”
She added to The Times: “It was a torture chamber. The amount of videos I have of me like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ It was eight days. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot.
“We would just go until I had a panic attack. And the tempting thing is you want to peel it off, but of course you can’t do that, because you’ll bring your skin with you.”
Advertisement
Oh, and Margaret Qualley was also wearing prosthetics you mightn’t have even known were there
According to Margaret, Coralie Fargeat had envisioned Sue as a curvaceous “Jessica Rabbit”-type.
“Unfortunately there is no magic boob potion, so we had to glue those on,” she told The Times.
“Coralie found an incredible prosthetic team to endow me with the rack of a lifetime, just not my lifetime.”
Yes, Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley really did have to learn all those aerobics routine
Margaret described her own dance sequences as “brutal”, and later admitted she needed a bit of liquid courage to get through the day.
“I just got wasted first thing in the morning because I was like, I can’t do this in front of everybody,” she told The Times, claiming a combo of tequila and weed helped her through that difficult day.
Advertisement
For Demi, the most difficult part was the infamous scene in front of a mirror
After setting up a date with an old school friend, Elisabeth is about to head out for the evening, when she becomes distracted with thoughts of Sue, and repeatedly removes and reapplies her makeup.
“It was very difficult,” Demi told Variety, describing the scene as “one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the film”.
Apparently, Coralie required as many as 45 takes for the shot, (15 for each of the three makeup set-ups), until it reached “a point where I couldn’t do it anymore”.
In fact, Demi said, it was actually the make-up team who intervened, which Pierre-Olivier confirmed to be the case to Marie Claire.
Advertisement
“My concern was she’s going to hurt herself. At the end, I did something that I never did on a movie, ever. I told Coralie, ‘That’s enough. You cannot do it anymore because she’s going to have a rash all around the face’,” he recalled.
“Coralie said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, no problem.’ But of course after the 11th [take], she said, ‘We are going to do it once again,’ and I took the remover pad and I squashed everything, and I said, ‘I removed everything, that’s over. You have already 11. You cannot have more because tomorrow she will have a red face.’”
“Normally you don’t do that! But it was too much because it was very hard on her skin,” he revealed.
All that hard work really did take its toll on both Demi and Margaret
Demi told the LA Times that for the week of shooting where she wasn’t needed on set, she ended up contracting shingles – “and I then lost, like, 20 pounds”.
For her part, Margaret said that eight days on set wearing enormous prosthetics led to her breaking out in “crazy acne for a full, long-ass time”, the effects of which she claimed could still be seen in her other 2024 film Kinds Of Kindness.
Despite all of the body horror in The Substance, Demi had a surprising choice when naming the ‘most violent’ moment of the film
Apparently, she still crings every time she sees Dennis Quaid eating all of that shrimp. And if you’re wondering, he ate it all for real, with Coralie estimating the actor probably ate around “two kilos” of shrimp while filming.
“I will just warn everyone, the scene with Dennis [Quaid] eating the shrimp is by far the most violent scene in the whole movie. He ate, I think, four pounds of shrimp, tearing the heads off with sound effects,” Demi recalled to Seth Meyers, while gagging.
Dennis Quaid was actually a late addition to The Substance
He took over the role of Harvey from Emmy winner Ray Liotta, who was cast in the film in 2022, but died before filming got underway.
Advertisement
And his character’s name, Harvey, was no coincidence either
“Not at all!” Coralie said with a laugh when asked by Rue Morgue if the reference was unintentional. “To me, that’s part of the craziness of filmmaking – how with just a first name, you can characterise a whole type of person.
“It says so much about those stories that we heard everywhere, and then that kind of exploded with this specific figure, and now just this name, Harvey, can represent something that has existed in society on many different levels.
“I love to work with symbolism, and the symbolism of that name was definitely powerful and strong.”
But what about the other characters’ names in that case?
“For Sparkle, it was this idea to shine, to be under the light, and to have this moment that means happiness,” Coralie told Collider.
","type":"video","meta":{"author":"Collider Interviews","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5KD40UCDRUbR-od7sp9cuA","cache_age":86400,"description":"Writer-director Coralie Fargeat taps into something primal with her body horror movie, The Substance. \"I want to let this violence go out and hopefully make a change,\" she told Perri Nemiroff while at the Toronto International Film Festival for her movie’s North American premiere. Violence and beauty may not go hand-in-hand with a large part of society, but for people who identify as women and those who feel the weight of beauty standards, the two can often be synonymous when it comes to appearance and self-image. After all, beauty is pain, right?\n\nIn The Substance, Demi Moore, a Hollywood icon as both an actress and a standard of beauty herself, plays Elisabeth Sparkle, an A-list celebrity who’s peaked. Age has rendered her useless to studio head Harvey (Dennis Quaid), but a mysterious drug offers Elisabeth a second chance. It’s a simple injection that allows her to live in a fresh, new, younger body — sort of. Sue, played by Margaret Qualley, is the cloned product of the drug and an ambitious and physically stunning 20-year-old. These two personalities must share their bodies, one week at a time, or risk biological consequences, but the desire for autonomy is dangerously strong.\n\nFargeat, Moore, and Qualley all stopped by Collider’s interview studio at the Cinema Center at MARBL to dissect and crack into their body horror feature. How did Fargeat land on this bloody and beautiful approach to the message she wanted to share? The auteur discusses wanting to purge her own self-doubts, and Moore and Qualley share how they discovered their characters through little dialogue and a lot of prosthetics, \"tears, and snot.\" The trio explain their own struggles with these themes, as well as lessons learned throughout production and tons more.\n\n#demimoore #interview #thesubstance #margaretqualley #actor \n\nFor interviews, movie reviews, and more visit https://collider.com\n\nFOLLOW US ON SOCIAL\nhttps://twitter.com/collider\nhttps://instagram.com/collider\nhttps://facebook.com/collider","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TzL2WgK4w0s/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"The Substance Interview: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley & Coralie Fargeat","type":"video","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzL2WgK4w0s","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"66f6d3b6e4b0632d68f6c1e8","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/17-behind-the-scenes-facts-the-substance-demi-moore-margaret-qualley_uk_66f6d3b6e4b0632d68f6c1e8","entryTagsList":"ukfilm,demi-moore,the-substance,margaret-qualley,dennis-quaid","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":25},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"66f6d3b6e4b0632d68f6c1e8","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"ukfilm","slug":"ukfilm","links":{"relativeLink":"news/ukfilm","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Film","slug":"ukfilm","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukfilm/"},{"name":"Demi Moore","slug":"demi-moore","links":{"relativeLink":"news/demi-moore","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/demi-moore","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/demi-moore"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/demi-moore/"},{"name":"the substance","slug":"the-substance","links":{"relativeLink":"news/the-substance","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/the-substance","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/the-substance"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/the-substance/"},{"name":"margaret qualley","slug":"margaret-qualley","links":{"relativeLink":"news/margaret-qualley","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/margaret-qualley","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/margaret-qualley"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/margaret-qualley/"},{"name":"Dennis Quaid","slug":"dennis-quaid","links":{"relativeLink":"news/dennis-quaid","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/dennis-quaid","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/dennis-quaid"},"relegenceId":2787942,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/dennis-quaid/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["
“‘Elisabeth’ – I don’t know why it came that way, but probably because it had this iconic resonance of all the big movie stars in the past.
Advertisement
“I remember at some point, somebody tried to make me, in production, maybe, change the name because we didn’t want to have legal issues, or I don’t know why. I said, ‘No. No way’. I don’t know. I knew this name was important.”
Interestingly, Coralie said she picked Sue as she felt it had an air of youthfulness, while Margaret pointed out that it also made the speaker make a sexualised mouth shape when saying the character’s name.
Let’s talk about that shower of blood in the finale, shall we?
“It was like a fire hose. It’s like what the firemen are using to put fire down; it was the same stuff with blood,” Pierre-Olivier told Marie Claire.
“I knew the scene needed to be massive,” Coralie also told Entertainment Weekly, estimating around 36,000 gallons of fake blood were used, which she said was essential “because the movie is about flesh, blood, and bones”.
And since we’ve gone this long without mentioning it – yes, those nude scenes were the real deal, and yes, that made things a little awkward on set
“We had to do these moments of switching, on this cold tile floor, and we’re both nude and laying there. There’s an aspect of it that was so absurd and funny,” Demi told Entertainment Weekly.
“Knowing that we had each other, looking out for each other, it’s just impossible not to find the absurdity of it humorous. At some point, I said, ‘Thank God we like each other, because otherwise this would be really awkward!’”
What could be more exciting than Lady Gaga tapping into her most eccentric side to play Harley Quinn in a new musical, we here you ask?
How about a new album from the Grammy winner inspired by her performance in the film?
Gaga has been teasing something big in relation to her stint in Joker: Folie À Deux for the past few days, with cryptic posts on her Instagram featuring messages like “I’m ready for my interview”, “no duct tape no mission” and “moondust gets everywhere”.
And she confirmed this to be the case on Tuesday afternoon when she revealed plans to release Harley Quinn, a “companion album to Joker: Folie À Deux” this Friday.
The album’s tracklist reveals the album will include a mix of covers featured in the Joker sequel – including songs popularised by Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and The Carpenters – as well as original songs inspired by Gaga’s interpretation of Harley Quinn.
However, this song will not feature on Gaga’s album, nor will it appear on Harlequin.
Joker: Folie À Deux hits cinemas on Friday 4 October.