Actor Demi Moore was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 90s. But the negative reaction her film G.I. Jane received upon its release cost her a bit of passion for acting.
Demi Moore lost her passion after ‘G.I. Jane’
In 1997, Moore starred in the film G.I. Jane. The movie featured Moore as Jordan O’ Neil, who was recruited into a new U.S. Navy program that allowed women into their services.
Despite Moore’s passion for the project, the movie didn’t do too well at the box office. It earned $48 million during the entirety of its run and was received unfavorably by critics. But it wasn’t a reaction that Moore agreed with.
“It was really underrated, at a moment when they [critics] just didn’t want to let me win,” Moore once told C Magazine (via Contact Music). “But, to this day, it is still one of my favorite films that I have had the privilege to be in.”
She also shared the backlash towards the film was what caused her to take a break from Hollywood.
“It was that kind of crushing that really sent me into a space that lost a little bit of passion and maybe disheartened me,” she added.
Demi Moore went through real Navy Seal training for ‘G.I. Jane’
Moore did a lot to prepare for G.I. Jane. To add authenticity and credibility to the film and her character, the Ghost star did real intense training for the film.
“It was hardcore,” she once told Howard Stern about the training. “Obviously, ours was modified, but we had all real scenes down there, and it was me and 40 guys.”
At one point, after puking and getting blisters on her feet, a consultant told Moore the training was unnecessary.
“Harry Humphries, our consultant, he said, ‘You know, you don’t really have to do all this.’ And I thought, ‘If I don’t right now I’ll never get it back.’ Of, y’know, the respect. I’m playing an officer,” she reasoned.
Moore also remarked that she wasn’t treated any differently than other Navy Seals in the program. When she was late one time, Moore was yelled at just like everyone else.
“He was screaming at me, ‘Who the f*** do you think you are. You think we’re gonna let some split-tail come in here, drop your f***** ass down,’” Moore once recalled when she was told to do push-ups. “I was like, ‘Ok.” And then I go in and then he screams at everybody else.”
Demi Moore felt her film ‘Striptease’ affected ‘G.I. Jane’ reception
Moore believed her role in Striptease played a part in the critical reaction for G.I. Jane. For Striptease, she earned a salary that was record-breaking for female actors at the time. Moore believed the amount she earned on Striptease might have created some resentment towards her.
“I think G.I. Jane got hit because I was paid $12 million to do Striptease,” Moore told W magazine. “In a sense, Striptease was a film where women felt I betrayed them. G.I. Jane is a film where men felt I betrayed them. The focus went on that paycheck.”
In an interview with the New York Times, Moore felt the salary she was paid helped the careers of other female actors, too. But she conceded that the difference it made was minimal.
“I know that it really resonated,” she said. “It’s not about me doing it. I was just the instrument by which it was done. Clearly, it didn’t do enough because we’re still, this many years later, dealing with it.”
Still, Moore was honored to be that kind of trailblazer for her peers.
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