In 1992, the world saw Demi Moore march confidently through courtrooms as Lieutenant JoAnne Galloway in ‘A Few Good Men‘. But what audiences didn’t see was the reality behind those scenes. There, Moore was balancing an eight-month pregnancy with the demands of a blockbuster shoot. And right at the center of it all stood Tom Cruise, who, according to Moore, didn’t quite know how to handle what he was seeing.
Demi Moore On The Tension With Tom Cruise During ‘A Few Good Men’ Filming
During a recent appearance at the New Yorker Festival, Moore revealed that she was nearly eight months pregnant with her and then-husband Bruce Willis’s second daughter, Scout, when she began working on the film. The early rehearsals took place with Cruise and director Rob Reiner, and that’s when she noticed something curious.
She recalled that Cruise seemed “quite embarrassed” by her pregnancy. While she felt perfectly fine moving around and reading her lines, she could sense that he found it “a bit awkward.” The moment wasn’t personal, she said, but it reflected the times, an industry still uncertain about how to treat an actress who was both expecting and leading a major film.
Back then, very few stars were starting families at the peak of their careers. Moore believed that the discomfort wasn’t just Cruise’s, it was Hollywood’s. She noted that many actors, especially women, avoided parenthood altogether because the system made it seem like a choice between family and career.
Moore On Challenging Hollywood’s Unwritten Rules
Moore said she decided not to accept that limitation. She questioned why women had to pick one over the other and made it her mission to show that both could coexist. “Why not? Why can’t you have both?” she remembered thinking. But that choice came with pressure; pressure she admitted she largely put on herself.
To prove that she could do it all, Moore became what she called “a bit of an overachiever.” She worked relentlessly, determined to keep up with the physical and emotional demands of motherhood and acting. Years later, she looks back on that time and shakes her head, wondering, “What was I even trying to prove?”
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She described moments on set when she’d switch from breastfeeding her baby to blocking a scene moments later. Today, she recognizes that young mothers in Hollywood are far more supported, something she wishes had been true back then.
The pressure didn’t end there. Moore confessed that even before giving birth, she felt obligated to get into shape for her role in a crisp military uniform. She began exercising before her daughter was born; hiking for two and a half hours the day her water broke, riding a bike for 24 miles, and even dancing at a reggae club shortly before going into labor.
She laughed that such a routine likely led her daughter to arrive two and a half weeks early. Looking back, Moore sees the irony; in her quest to prove strength, she pushed herself to extremes. But at the time, it felt necessary, like the only way to be taken seriously in a male-dominated business.
Today, Moore views that experience as the best turning point in her life. And now, she appreciates how much more supportive the industry has become toward young mothers.
