During the preproduction of the 1992 film A Few Good Men, actor Demi Moore was eight months pregnant, a fact she recently revealed at the New Yorker Festival. Moore explained that Tom Cruise, her co-star, felt uncomfortable and was “quite embarrassed” by her pregnancy, which was unusual for Hollywood at the time. The rarity of actors managing both their careers and pregnancies simultaneously led to this reaction.
Challenges of Balancing Pregnancy and Acting in Hollywood
Moore discussed how the pressure on actors to choose between their professional lives and motherhood was intense during that era. She questioned the industry’s resistance by saying,
“It’s one of the many things, for me, that I just felt didn’t make sense. And so I challenged that to say, you know, ‘Why not? Why can’t you have both?’”
Moore added that she felt compelled to demonstrate it was possible to do both, stating,
“But with that, I think, came a lot of pressure I put on myself to, in a sense, prove that it was possible.”
She also highlighted how little support there was for pregnant actresses then compared to now. Moore reminded the audience of the difficulties involved, such as
“You know, to be breastfeeding and then blocking and rehearsing a scene,”
underscoring the demanding nature of working while pregnant in Hollywood at that time.
Impact on Hollywood and What Might Change
Moore’s experience sheds light on a time when the film industry offered limited accommodation for pregnant performers. Her openness about the challenges and the pressure to balance motherhood with acting suggests a slow but necessary shift toward greater support for working mothers in Hollywood. Her story may inspire ongoing conversations on how the industry can evolve to embrace both career and family life for actors.
