Demi Moore is looking back on one of her most iconic film roles — and how being pregnant at the time caused some unexpected awkwardness on set.
During a Q&A at the New Yorker Festival, the 61-year-old actress reflected on filming the 1992 legal drama A Few Good Men while eight months pregnant with her daughter, Scout Willis. Moore revealed that her co-star, Tom Cruise, seemed unsure how to handle her pregnancy at first.
“I think Tom was quite embarrassed,” Moore said, according to People. “I actually felt OK about it. I was moving around, though, right? But I could tell he felt that it was a bit awkward.”
The Ghost star said she believed Cruise’s discomfort wasn’t personal but rather a reflection of the culture at the time — a time when women in Hollywood often felt pressure to choose between motherhood and career.
“It’s one of the many things, for me, that I just felt didn’t make sense,” she said. “And so I challenged that to say, you know, ‘Why not? Why can’t you have both?’ But with that, I think, came a lot of pressure I put on myself to, in a sense, prove that it was possible.”
Moore — who shares three daughters, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah, with ex-husband Bruce Willis — said she stayed active and determined to do her best work even as she neared her due date. “I was going to be in a military uniform, and probably overly anticipated and started working out and trying to get in shape even before she was born,” she said. “I did a two-and-a-half-hour hike the day my water broke. I did a 24-mile bike ride, and then was dancing at a reggae club — hence why she came two-and-a-half weeks early.”
A representative for Cruise did not respond to a request for comment, but Moore’s remarks have sparked reflection about how much Hollywood has changed — and how much farther it still has to go in supporting women balancing family and career.
Earlier this year, Moore also opened up about her evolving relationship with her body and the challenges that come with fame. “It’s put me through the wringer,” she told People. “Not unlike what The Substance [her 2024 horror film] is and why they made the character an actor. Because it really forced me to address my issues of self-judgment and lack of appreciation.”
Moore admitted she used to be harsh on herself, saying, “I did torture myself. Crazy things like biking from Malibu all the way to Paramount — all because I placed so much value on what my outsides looked like.”
Now, she says, she’s learning to treat herself with more kindness and gratitude. “I have a much more intuitive, relaxed relationship with my body,” she shared. “I trust when it tells me it needs something to eat, that it’s thirsty. I listen to my body today, and I have a lot less fear.”
Her words serve as a reminder that worth and beauty aren’t defined by physical appearance or worldly success — something Scripture reminds us of, too. As 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Decades after A Few Good Men, Hollywood is slowly evolving from the days when women were told they had to choose between a family or a career. Moore’s story shows that faith, perseverance, and self-acceptance can break old barriers — and that real strength is found not in perfection, but in grace.