AS 'THE SUBSTANCE' IS RELEASED MARGARET QUALLEY

ON MAKING THE LEAP FROM BALLET TO HOLLYWOOD

- GILL PRINGLE

When director Coralie Fargeat was looking for two actresses to play “two faces of the same coin” – but with a 30-year age difference – she chose Demi Moore, 62, and Margaret Qualley, 30. Not that the two remotely resemble one another.

According to the French feminist film-maker, it was more about selecting “two powerful actresses” who could handle the physical and symbolic demands of her body horror movie The Substance.

In the film, Demi’s fading celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle – sacked from her TV show after turning 50 – takes a black-market drug, a substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself. Enter Margaret’s sexy Sue, who is both angelic and libidinous.

One might imag ine tha t Margaret, the daughter of Green Card and Four Weddings and a Funeral star Andie MacDowell, always dreamed of following in her mum’s footsteps, but she initially trained as a ballet dancer – a skill that helped her enormously in portraying TV workout star Sue.

Like her mum, Margaret found herself in big demand as a model, making her catwalk debut at the age of 16. By the time she turned 18, she had switched her focus from ballet to drama, and quickly gained notice with roles in The Nice Guys, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and