The resurrection of Demi Moore and Pamela Anderson: Hollywood and its second chances

Jamie Lee Curtis said it best upon being nominated for her 2023 Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once: “I’m 64 years old. I’ve been an actor since I was 19. I made horror films and sold yogurt that makes you shit. I never thought I would hear my name at the Oscars.” This year, after winning the award and enjoying a career renaissance, Curtis is back in the headlines for her work on The Last Showgirl. That film stars Pamela Anderson, another actress who is back in the spotlight after surviving the release of biographical miniseries Pam and Tommy, which brought the lurid moment of her sex tape back into public discourse. “This is the best payback,” Anderson has told the press. “I’m being seen and recognized for my work and not these tawdry moments.”

One of the prevailing narratives of this year’s awards season leading up to the Oscars has been that of the return to the limelight of beloved veteran actors who the public thought had disappeared for good. Like Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, several mature performers and their agent put together campaigns year after year meant to reinvent their personas — the archetypal “I’m ready for my spotlight” moment. In 2025, that rallying cry, an expert blend of marketing and poetic justice, is being sounded by no one so much as Demi Moore, 62.

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Demi Moore speaks out at the Golden Globes

Upon being crowned Best Actress at the Golden Globes for The Substance, a film full of meta messaging that winks at her own treatment by Hollywood, Moore recalled the start of her career in a potent acceptance speech. “I’ve been doing this a long time — like, over 45 years — and this is the first time I’ve ever won anything as an actor […] I do belong.” A compelling narrative isn’t just necessary to take home treasured statuettes. It can also power yesterday’s stars toward a new career chapter, one that actually celebrates their age.

Moore, who at the height of her fame became Hollywood’s best-paid actress for her role in Striptease, delivered a compelling discourse, even if the industry (as her own film critiques) still sees her as a star from another era. Perhaps she’s never been considered a truly great actor, but this current cycle could provide the push she needs to recast her career after a life spent being battered by critics over her commercial films. “Older women are starting conversations and using their strength and power to talk about who we are at this age. And I think that’s so beautiful,” Cameron Diaz tells EL PAÍS in a videocall, speaking of her own return to movies after a decade-long break.

Neither Moore nor Curtis ever truly disappeared, but the industry did stop offering them prominent roles, and they often turned down offers. For her part, Diaz decided to go into voluntary retirement, even though her phone was still ringing. In 2014, she decided to focus on family. At 42 years old, she spoke out about ageism and even published a book on the subject: “We don’t allow others or ourselves to age gracefully. And getting older is a privilege,” she said just before that retirement. Her return to the spotlight a decade later, with Netflix’s Back in Action, may not be as groundbreaking as the comebacks of Moore and Anderson. However, the action comedy reaffirms that, at 52, Diaz can still deliver the kind of performances that made her famous — much like other industry veterans such as Liam Neeson and Harrison Ford, who are still considered box-office draws.

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Cameron Díaz: 'Let just say the word: menopause'

“At last we’re putting a spotlight on what happens to women at this age and throwing it back in the viewer’s face. Now we can say the word ‘menopause’ in a conversation. We were never allowed to talk about it. We are showing ourselves more respect,” says Diaz in Berlin. She adds, “I think that Demi and her movie speak to that better than anyone else. She shows you what society expects from women and what women expect from themselves, and she does it in such a daring way. I think that we all experience it in some way. And now I’m playing a mother, which is exactly where I’m at in life. It came naturally to me, but we all want to fulfill those expectations.”

Diaz decided to take this step after coming out of Covid-19 lockdown. “The world was opening wide, and it was the right time. Besides, I knew what I was getting into. If I was going to be 10 or 12 hours away from my family, I wanted to be with someone I was comfortable with, and having a good time,” she says of Jamie Foxx, with whom she shot Annie, her last film in 2014 (a year during which she released three movies), and who accompanied her on the interview. “I feel privileged to be able to come back after 10 years,” Diaz says.

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OSCARS 2023 | Jamie Lee Curtis wins the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress

Not all actresses have that option. There’s a whole generation of stars from hit 1980s and 1990s dramas that the industry has left traumatized, and far from the spotlight. On this list are Debra Winger (An Officer and a Gentleman), Rebecca de Mornay (Risky Business), Lori Petty (Point Break), Madeleine Stowe (The Last Mohican), Anabella Sciorra, Alicia Silverstone, Rosanna Arquette, and Juliette Lewis. With the notable exceptions of Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman (who have taken big casting risks like that of Babygirl, redefining the work of older actresses), few have proven capable of remaining on the A-list.

Jane Fonda retired in 1990 after marrying Ted Turner and returned 15 years later with Monster-in-Law, resuscitating her career with comedic roles. Similarly, Spanish television introduced a new generation to Amparo Baró (7 Vidas), Emma Penella and Gemma Cuervo (Aquí no hay quien viva). Though technically she’d never retired, Winona Ryder had her own resurgence with Stranger Things. And comebacks are far from limited to women: B-movie superfan Quentin Tarantino is an expert in reviving the careers of actors who once seemed past their prime. John Travolta has acknowledged on several occasions that Pulp Fiction gave him a second chance, long after his turn as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever. Paramount even soured on Marlon Brando after a series of flops dimmed his star. Maintaining one’s shine is never easy in Hollywood.

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Brendan Fraser wins the Best Oscar for 'The Whale'

Ever since Travolta’s Oscar nomination, Hollywood has come to love comebacks, as demonstrated by Brendan Fraser’s success with The Whale and Mickey Rourke’s in The Wrestler — although producers didn’t seem to know what else to do with the latter star. “I started in this business 30 years ago, and things didn’t come easily to me. But there was a facility that I didn’t appreciate at the time. Until it stopped,” Fraser said when he stepped up to claim his Oscar. Nowadays, it seems that every year features such a story.

Performers like Robert Downey Jr. have been able to redirect their career after bouts with drugs and prison — at 41, Downey became the highest-paid actor, thanks to Marvel. By the time he was 60, he was being paid more than $80 million for The Avengers. Downey was able to become a completely different kind of star, and make it stick. The same can be said of Anderson, who recently filmed The Naked Gun 4+1⁄4: Law of Toughness with Liam Neeson. “I always thought I was capable of more,” she told the hosts of The View. Of course, staying at the top will always be a challenge. Hollywood remembers, and then it forgets, in an unending cycle.

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