Demi Moore shares what she whispered to her manager moments before Oscar loss
Demi Moore is opening up about her recent Oscar loss.
The actress, who was nominated for best actress for her leading role in Coralie Fargeat's "The Substance," discussed her loss with Time in an interview published Wednesday, after she was selected as one of the outlet's 100 most influential people of 2025.
"I leaned over and whispered to my manager, 'I think it's going to Mikey,'" Moore told Time of the moment just before the award was announced for "Anora" actress Mikey Madison.
"I don't know why I knew, but I did," she continued.
Moore, who won the Golden Globe and the SAG Award earlier in the season for her leading role in "The Substance," said she was calm when the loss ultimately came.
"I was so centered and calm. I didn't feel gutted. I didn't feel any of those kinds of things. I just trusted, and am in trust of, whatever is going to unfold."
Madison won the award, her first, for her leading role in "Anora," which ultimately took home the Oscar for best picture at the March ceremony.
Madison recognized her fellow nominees in her acceptance speech.
"I also just want to recognize the thoughtful, intelligent, beautiful, breathtaking work of my fellow nominees. I'm honored to be recognized alongside all of you," she said at the time, as the camera panned to her Moore, who put her hands over her heart and smiled as she looked up at Madison.
Moore conceded that not winning the award brought with it a feeling of disappointment.
"The physical, human part that has ego, of course, has disappointment," she told Time. "It certainly would have been wonderful to have won."
Following the Academy Awards, Moore took to Instagram to share a message of gratitude as awards season came to a close.
"It's been the ride of a lifetime and we're just getting started! So grateful for my team, my fellow nominees, and everyone who has made this experience so full of joy and light," she wrote in a post on March 3.
Prior to the Oscars, Moore gave an emotional speech at the Golden Globes highlighting her appreciation for the role.
"I've been doing this a long time, like, over 45 years, and this is the first time I've ever won anything as an actor, and I am just so humbled and so grateful," she said, adding that she was at a "low point" when she "had this magical, bold, courageous, out of the box, absolutely bonkers script come across my desk called 'The Substance.'"
In "The Substance," Moore portrays Elisabeth Sparkle, "a former A-lister past her prime and suddenly fired from her fitness TV show by her boss (Dennis Quaid)," according to a synopsis.
"She is then drawn to the opportunity presented by a mysterious new drug: THE SUBSTANCE. All it takes is one injection and she is reborn – temporarily – as the gorgeous, twentysomething Sue (Margaret Qualley)," the synopsis states.
