Margaret Qualley Reveals Shocking Secrets Behind The Substance

20.01.2025 - 18:33

Margaret Qualley, the star of 2024's breakout horror hit The Substance, opened up about the challenges she faced on set. Known for her gripping performance alongside Demi Moore, the actress confessed that playing Elisabeth Sparkle required not only heavy makeup but also prosthetics. In a candid interview, she shared how she battled severe acne for a year and revealed the surprising truth behind her use of breast prosthetics. Find out the untold behind-the-scenes secrets that made The Substance even more intense for the talented actress!

Margaret Qualley, who made a big impact with last year's highly discussed film The Substance, was a guest on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast.

The American actress candidly shared the skin problems she faced during the film's shoot and the challenges of the makeup process.

The 30-year-old actress explained that the heavy makeup and facial prosthetics caused serious irritation to her skin, and she continued to feel the effects for a year.

Qualley mentioned that this issue even affected some of the scenes: 'At the end of the film or in the credits scenes, they had to point the camera elsewhere. For example, in long lens shots with palm trees in the background under my skirt, they couldn't use my face because it was in such bad shape.'

Qualley's skin problems continued through her subsequent project Kinds of Kindness.

In Kinds of Kindness, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, where she played multiple characters, Qualley said she turned this challenging period into an advantage. 'There was a character with acne in the film, and in those scenes, we used the acne leftover from my prosthetics. I thought to myself, 'This is a perfect opportunity!' But physically, it took me a year to recover.'

Qualley's challenges on The Substance set weren't limited to just skin issues.

In an interview with The Sunday Times in September 2024, she revealed that she wore breast prosthetics to transform into her character Sue: 'Unfortunately, there wasn't a magical breast elixir. So, we had to glue them on.'