Demi Moore Talks Variety's Demi-ssance, Her Dog's Vogue Cover and The Substance (Extended)

-Thank you so much and welcome back to the show. Thanks for coming on our show. Look at you here on the cover of "Variety." [ Cheers and applause ] They're calling this the year of the -- The Demissance. -Wow. Doesn't that sound like a party that we should go to? -Yeah, we should go to the Demissance. -Yeah, let's go. -How does that feel? There's all this attention. -I don't know. Yeah, I like it. -Is it fun? -Okay, I'll take it. -I mean, I want to talk about the movie and all about the rave reviews. You're fantastic in it. I know you're doing press all over the world, and you keep going with a certain thing everywhere you go. -It's a being, not a thing. -I don't know what it is. -I mean, Jimmy... -This might be the cutest dog I've ever seen in my... [ Audience "Awws" ] How much does the dog weigh? [ Laughter ] -And is it real? -She is very, very real. This is Pilaf the little mouse, and she is a pound and a half. She's the runt of her litter. -Oh, no. -She's a magical creature. -Yeah, I met her backstage, and the tongue permanently stays out. -It does. She lost the teeth that hold it in, but it's part of her charm. I was told that she was here to teach me a new way to walk, and I think it's working. [ Laughs ] [ Cheers and applause ] -Really? -Yeah, seriously, I was. -I saw her on the cover of "Dogue" magazine. [ Cheers and applause ] What is this? Is this for real? -It is for real. "Vogue" did a dog days of Summer. And of course, she had to be positioned as the cover girl. -Come on. Are you joking me? [ Laughs ] That is the cutest thing ever. Uh, no. I also saw a video. Because that's not your only dog you have. -That's true. -I saw a video of all your dogs waiting for you when you came home. I wanted to show everyone. Take a look at this. This is you. [ Laughter ] Is that fun? That's like a cartoon. That's like "The Secret Life of Pets." They're all on their beds like, "Hi!" -"Hey, where have you been?" -"Hi, Mom, what's going on?" But I also read somewhere that -- Do you sleep with the dogs, too? -Okay, I sleep with dogs. -That's good. No. We all do that. -People do that. -If anybody saw my nighttime routine, if it was filmed, they would really see how eccentric I really am. I have to prop pillows so the ones that are this size have the ability to get under the covers. I have two beds for the little ones so that they have the beds within the bed. -Oh, my God. -You know. -The other pillow. -You take care of them, yeah. -Of course. -Yeah, but you were telling me... -Hence why I'm single. -[ Laughs ] You were telling me backstage that the the love of your life right now is a little baby. You're a grandma. -I am a grandma. -I can't believe I'm saying that. That's amazing. Congratulations. -It's somewhat surreal. -Yeah. I can't believe it, really, even saying it on my mouth. -But it's incredible. She is the sweetest little thing. -She is. -Yes, I love it. -Do you go by "Grandma" or... -I go by "Yaya". -Yeah. And do you think -- Is that going to work? -It works, and by the way, I positioned it perfectly because I knew that in her verbal skills I would be high on the list. Which I am. -Yeah, that's very smart. -Yeah. Yaya came out... -Baby's first word is not going to be "Grandma." -She sees me, and even on FaceTime, "Yaya!" -Come on. That worked, that's a good trick. -I'm like, "Yes it is." -That's right, it is "Yaya." [ Cheers and applause ] -Let's talk about your new movie. Let's talk about "The Substance." Congrats. You were unbelievable in this. Every review saying this is the best performance of your career that I've read. How does that feel? -It feels great. -I mean, you've done some great work. They say that that's the best of your career. -I mean, that's an objective point of view. I can't look at it, but I do feel really proud of my work in this. -You've got like a 15 minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival. 15 -- What do you do... [ Cheers and applause ] No, no, no, don't. No, no! Stop clapping! No more! No more ovations! But you're there -- What does it feel like? Because I would never in my life get a 15 minute standing ovation. -I don't know, it was, um -- One, I've never had a film at Cannes, so I had no idea what to expect, -How was it? -I was very humbled, I really was. It was humbling. But also to be in a theater of 2,000 people who love cinema. -Yes. -Seeing this film and it was a, you know, it was a late night showing. And so and it was incredible. I felt really humbled. -Had you seen the film? -It was the first time I was seeing it with all the effects and everything in it. -Oh, my gosh. I mean, when you see the script, do you go, "Yeah, this is the one"? Because it's it's different. -I mean, this one is such a unique out of the box way of delving into the subject matter of aging. -Yeah. -Um, in particular, and also the kind of -- Like, the male perspective of the idealized woman that we as women have bought into. -Yeah. -And a lot about compare and despair, and the violence that we have against ourselves. Like when we look in the mirror and we're judging ourselves the way if we were to create a physical manifestation of the negative self-talk that all of us, not just women, but that we as people can do to tear ourselves down. -It's so well done. -And then it really goes to some crazy places to depict that. -It's fascinating. How do we set up "The Substance"? -Well, here's my, like, short form, which is if you were to take the picture of Dorian Gray, the movie "Death Becomes Her," and a Jane Fonda workout video. -[ Laughs ] Okay, give it give us the long version because that's -- Yeah, I'll take that. But I mean... -Okay, so I play a woman who is an actress, who has a fitness program, who has reached the age of 50 and is basically aging out of her own show and is being, um, fired. And so she's like, the movie starts off with somebody in really the depths of rejection, despair, and a lack of belonging, who then gets offered a substance that would provide a newer, younger her. -Yeah. -But instead of that being just me improved, it's actually another entity that is of me played by Margaret Qualley. -Who's amazing as well. But then you have to switch. -We can only -- So the idea is that it's my consciousness in the two bodies, but it can only be in each body one week at a time. -It is phenomenal. You just crushed it. I want to show everyone a clip. Here's Demi Moore in "The Substance." Take a look. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Demi Moore, everybody! "The Substance" is in theaters nationwide September 20. More "Tonight Show" after the break. Stick around everybody.