Margaret Qualley Says ‘The Substance’ Was ‘Outdoors My Consolation Zone’ (Unique)

Embodying her character in The Substance challenged Margaret Qualley to take new dangers onscreen.

Qualley, 29, tells PEOPLE the provocative body-horror movie, directed by Coralie Fargeat (Revenge), was “actually outdoors of my consolation zone.”

“I suppose, for me, it is one thing I’ve actually by no means carried out,” the actress says of taking part in Sue, a youthful model of her costar Demi Moore‘s character, Elisabeth Sparkle, who’s hyper-sexualized all through the movie. “I believe I’ve deliberately gone the opposite path all through my profession.”

In The Substance, Qualley takes on the position of Sue, a younger clone of Moore’s growing older actress who’s created by a bootleg serum. The movie options nudity and loads of exhausting to look at moments as the 2 girls, who share one consciousness, inject themselves with the movie’s titular serum.

“I knew it was going to be a giant problem for me,” The Maid star shares of the position. Qualley went on so as to add that the nudity in movie “very a lot serves the aim of this story.”

She continues, “It is a highway you need to go down with the intention to carry this to life. And I used to be enthusiastic about that problem.”

Moore, 61, agrees. “It is a part of what makes it fascinating and thrilling, pushing your self, as a result of I believe you ultimately, achieve extra of your self if you face that no matter may be a person’s discomfort, concern. I do not actually have a look at it as concern as a lot as simply vulnerability,” she says.

For Qualley, the movie’s themes have a sure universality to them: Elisabeth and Sue are craving for youth, fame and recognition — all issues which are prized by society.

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“We have all chosen, highlighted totally different components of ourselves to current to the world, for a way you need folks to see you,” the actress notes. “And never that lots of Sue’s attributes match the invoice for those that I am presenting to the world. But it surely does not imply that they are not someplace within me.”

The Substance, which costars Dennis Quaid, is in theaters now.