Demi Moore: More, More, Moore

Q: Whatever happened to your doing that big, juicy Ray Stark project about '30s torch singer Libby Holman? Songs, scandal, millionaires, possible murder and sex, sex, sex.

A: I really want to do it. It's a dark story--she had such a sad life-- and it's a matter of finding the right people to do it with. Ray Stark tends to have a more conservative eye and the most interesting things about [Holman's] life might be considered too provocative, dangerous. Right now, we're trying to find the right director who can really center it.

Q: By "provocative, dangerous" do you mean her sexuality?

A: Bottom line is, she was a bisexual woman whose biggest love in her life was a woman. I don't know if audiences want that... but you either go for it and explore the sexuality as it needs to be, or you don't bother.

Q: The Butcher's Wife was perceived, after Ghost, as your movie, the one that would gauge your power at the box office. It wasn't a hit. How did that affect you?

A: That movie never ended up being what I wanted it to be. If it had been really good, if it had been what I really wanted it to be, and people didn't go, it would have been sad. On the other hand, if A Few Good Men, which we all believe is really good, came out and nobody saw it, that would be a huge disappointment.

Q: Where did things get out of hand on The Butcher's Wife?

A: There was a feeling in a wonderful Barbra Streisand film, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, that made me see what The Butcher's Wife could have been: following a rich, charming character through an odd, fish-out-of-water experience. It was lightweight fluff, let's get that straight, but the script was kind of a Cinderella story and in the movie, I was like the fairy godmother. The audience didn't get to live through my character, because [the moviemakers] missed it.

Q: That's where the conflict began?

A: When I go into a project, it's from the viewpoint of "What is the concept? What are we trying to communicate? Who's taking us for this ride?" And I think that sometimes my passion is misconstrued as "being difficult." I really do fight for things to be the best they can be. But look, I went in eight months pregnant and did reshoots on The Butcher's Wife so, obviously, I wasn't totally wrong.

Q: Let's talk about your relationship with Bruce Willis. What do you think you do for each other, day to day?

A: [Long pause] The simplest thing I can say is that, in different ways, we've given the other a strength we didn't have for ourselves. I'm very embracing, very maternal, and I think I'm a grounding force, a center that I provide for Bruce. But we, together, have created a tremendous foundation of a family. I have been through a lot of things and have come out of that as an example, a light of sorts--a light of possibilities. Almost in the same way, there was an embracing and reassuring of values that Bruce gave me that no one had ever given me before. Bruce made me feel important. That filled me with a strength to step forward with a courage that, if I stepped a bit further, I knew I wasn't going to fall. If I fell, it wasn't going to be quite as hard.

Q: You're more than aware of the reputation your husband has. What don't we know about him?

A: Bruce hasn't found a role to even expose how truly gentle and fragile he can be. When Bruce feels something, he really feels it--much more than me. He gets so deep, so personal with the children; there's a sweetness, a gentleness, a quiet in him.

Q: Let's get to some dishy, career-minded questions again.

A: [Laughing] Yes, we like those Movieline questions. By the way, your magazine isn't nasty in a malicious way, like Premiere--even if I am doing a Premiere cover tomorrow, I don't have to do the interview!--but Movieline's fun-nasty, like, you read it and go, "Ooooh, ooooooh, OOOOOHHHH!" Anyway, I know Bruce will read this and say, like he always does, "You didn't have to tell him everything." And I'll read this and say, "I wish I knew how to make myself seem mysterious."

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