Despite the film's darker themes and gory visuals, Moore and Qualley created an environment where they could find comfort and be their best.

“The Substance” was lauded upon its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where it was up for the Palme d’Or and won the best screenplay award. Earlier this month, it took home the Midnight Madness people’s choice award at the Toronto International Film Fest. “The Substance” is currently playing in theaters.

Demi Moore was a troubled member of the "Brat Pack," who overcame esteem issues and became the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, starring in such films as "Indecent Proposal," "Charlie's Angels" and "Striptease.

The new body-horror movie "The Substance" is a wild time, It also took co-stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley way out of their comfort zones.

Demi Moore tells PEOPLE she hadn't met Margaret Qualley before becoming her costar in Coralie Fargeat’s new horror movie 'The Substance,' but had enough 'indirect connections' that they 'felt like we

The actress stars alongside Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid in Coralie Fargeat’s gleefully grotesque movie about an aging celebrity who takes an experimental drug that gives her a younger self.

She and costar Margaret Qualley also devoted time to perfecting sexualized gyrations their celebrity fitness characters would perform in front of leering cameras and a slimeball of a boss, played by Dennis Quaid,

Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid attend the premiere of their upcoming film "The Substance," at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles on Monday. The film, which hits theaters on September 20,