Being a director has been Coralie Fargeat's dream since she was 16 years old.
When the 2025 Oscar nominations were announced last month, the French filmmaker saw her sophomore feature film, "The Substance," earn five nominations in total, including three for herself: best original screenplay, best director and best picture.
The film stars Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading Hollywood star who turns to a black market drug known as The Substance in the hopes of creating "a younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of herself. Moore earned a best actress Oscar nomination for her role.
ABC News sat down with Fargeat to discuss how it feels to see her film embraced, horror representation at the Oscars and her creative partnership with Moore.
Fargeat said the reception "The Substance" has received has been "truly amazing," but admitted the film was "really, really tough to make."
"It's been a real five years of hard work," she said, calling it "a challenge" and "a lot of sacrifice."
Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and more stars react to 2025 Oscar nominations"The movie is all about 'They're going to love you,'" she continued, referencing a line from the film. "I think when you do a film, that's what part of you wants. You want to be loved, and, you know, that people see your work and see you. And you don't know if it's going to happen. The only thing you can do is do it in a sincere way and work hard to make it happen."
"But then the movie doesn't really belong to you anymore," she added. "So, when I saw that the movie started to spark some reactions, it was such a relief because I felt like what I wanted to say had been heard."
Fargeat said she hopes the conversations that have been started because of "The Substance" address how society needs to change. "We are just at the very, very beginning of trying to build an equal world for men and women in the world, and to see that the movie was helping to generate the conversation … it's been really amazing," she said.
Fargeat said she has received messages from women saying they feel seen by the film and from young filmmakers who found it inspiring to see what's possible for female directors in genre films.
"All these [reactions], to me, talk to representations. To really see people for who they are and not what we fantasize that they should be," she said. "But there is still such a long way to get there."
Genre films, particularly horror, are often overlooked at the Oscars.
Apart from a select few like "The Exorcist," "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Get Out," fans of the genre often believe these films rarely get the attention they deserve from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. When they are awarded, most are typically recognized outside of the major categories and instead pick up wins in the craft or technical categories, such as "Jaws," "American Werewolf in London," "Aliens" and "The Fly."
Despite this, Fargeat said she was always hopeful her film could break through.
"When I start to write, I always want to believe to the maximum," she said. "I truly believe that there is nothing like cinema. It's something that can open every door and that can make you go beyond yourself and can make you have such a strong, powerful voice and energy."
Fargeat said it's not the genre of the film that matters to her, but more so who is making it and why they are making it.
Demi Moore's daughters congratulate their mom on her 1st Oscar nomination"I don't believe that there are films who should deserve more or less to be considered for distinctions," she said, adding, "I think what really matters, and more and more nowadays, is what's the intention behind the film."
Fargeat said genre films, particularly horror, often have "very political" messages at their core that have "been a very powerful way to talk about society, to talk about humanity through our fears, through our desires, through our hopes."
"I think they can be a super powerful mirror of our society, of what we're scared about, of what we desire so much that we can put ourselves in danger to try and achieve it," she continued. "I think they are a very relevant way to speak about our world."
Fargeat said she doesn't categorize films -- saying "a film is a film" -- and that all "deserve a place at the table."
"That's so great for me that the movie was considered here and invited at this table, because … it inspires other filmmakers to express their voice and to not limit themselves," she said. "To me, that's the most important message."
While Moore has received widespread critical acclaim for her starring role in "The Substance" -- winning a Golden Globe and earning an Oscar nomination -- Fargeat admitted she initially had hesitations about her taking on the role.
Fargeat thought it was "such a great and powerful idea" to cast her but said she was unsure if Moore was "ready to do something that challenging and that bold."
"I was sure she wouldn't be ready to confront her image that way because I had an image of her who was so much in control, and that's why I was very surprised and happy when immediately she clicked on the script," she continued. "She had this tremendous reaction that I think the script instantly spoke to her."
The director further explained that she knew she wanted an actress "who would represent the star," adding, "I also knew that the casting process would be challenging, because I knew that I was going to ask an actress to confront maybe her worst fear, so everybody wouldn't be ready to do that."
Demi Moore, Dennis Quaid, Margaret Qualley star in 'The Substance' trailer: See here"[Demi] was at a time of her life where she was exactly at the moment where she wanted her story back. She wanted to have control of her own narrative. She didn't want her image to be in the hands of other people -- she wanted that back for herself to kind of free herself," she continued. "I think the story crossed her path at a moment where she was ready and willing to do that jump and to take some risk and to challenge herself."
Fargeat said she and Moore "were both committed to tell that story and really be faithful to what the movie had in its guts."
Referring to the adoration Moore has received for her work in the film, Fargeat said she is "really proud" of her, adding, "This is so deserved."
"To me, she's been an amazing actress [for] a long time but, again, it's those boxes that you put on people [that limit them]," she said. "The movie is really also about making those boxes explode."
The 2025 Oscars will take place Sunday, March 2, airing live on ABC and streaming live on Hulu beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
