News | Entertainment
18 Jan 2026 13:34
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Margaret Qualley was left with acne and cuts from the prosthetics she wore for 'The Substance'

    The 30-year-old actress plays party animal Sue in the satirical body horror film, who is the "more perfect" version of 61-year-old co-star Demi Moore's Elizabeth Sparkle, and she has revealed it took a year for her skin to recover.


    Speaking on the 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast this week, she spilled: "Like, at the end, when they're shooting up my skirt in the beginning credits, and it's like the palm trees all around and they have all these long lenses from the bottom, that's just because my face was so f***** up by that time that they couldn't, like, shoot my face anymore."

    Her face still had blemishes when she started filming her next project, 'Kinds of Kindness', which sees the star play four people.

    She went on: "So, you know the character that has all that acne? That was just my acne from the prosthetics.

    "And I was like, 'Oh this is kind of perfect. I'm playing all these different characters - for one of them we'll use all my crazy prosthetic acne.' It took me probably a year to recover physically from all of it."

    Margaret recently admitted the edgy film took her way out of her "comfort zone".

    The movie star - who is the daughter of 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' actress Andie MacDowell, 66 - shot to fame thanks to her roles in 'The Leftovers' and 'Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood' and has now opened up about the challenges of shooting her latest role alongside 62-year-old Demi Moore.

    She told PEOPLE: "I guess, for me, it's something I've really never done.

    "I think I've intentionally gone the other direction throughout my career.

    "I knew it was going to be a big challenge for me."

    But Margaret added the nudity in the movie was not exploitative and "very much serves the purpose of this story".

    She added: "It's a road you have to go down in order to bring this to life. And I was excited about that challenge."

    Margaret has told how she got "wasted" on drugs and tequila to get through filming one particularly raunchy scene in 'The Substance'.

    She told The Sunday Times: "That specific kind of sexuality doesn't lend itself to me."

    Margaret added she cried in a bathroom when she first rehearsed a scene in which her TV aerobics instructor character Sue does a sexed-up dance wearing a skimpy workout outfit, because she felt "so deeply ashamed" making it.

    She went on about how she added marijuana and alcohol into the emotional mix to get through the shoot: "And still, day of, I just got wasted first thing in the morning because I was like, I can't do this in front of everybody."

    Margaret's Sunday Times profile noted how "a combination of weed and tequila provided Dutch courage".

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     18 Jan: A woman who claimed to be Freddie Mercury's secret daughter has died after a battle with a rare form of spinal cancer
     18 Jan: Connor Storrie doesn't think his dad "needs to see" Heated Rivalry
     18 Jan: Tom Brady doesn't "have much time for a personal life"
     18 Jan: Carol Burnett wants to quit acting now she's in her 90s
     18 Jan: Ne-Yo is in "one relationship with three people"
     18 Jan: Tish Cyrus was "not functioning" as she battled "absolutely horrible" anxiety following the death of her mom and the breakdown of her marriage
     18 Jan: Lala Kent suffered "disgusting" boils after being bitten by an insect
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has posted a cryptic message on social media following speculation linking his assistant Tony Brown with a move to the All Blacks More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Revelations New Zealanders faced a 200-percent spike in E-shop scams over the festive season More...



     Today's News

    Living & Travel:
    Police are reminding the people to take care during what's likely to be a busy day on holiday highways today 13:27

    Entertainment:
    A woman who claimed to be Freddie Mercury's secret daughter has died after a battle with a rare form of spinal cancer 13:23

    Rugby:
    Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has posted a cryptic message on social media following speculation linking his assistant Tony Brown with a move to the All Blacks 13:07

    Entertainment:
    Connor Storrie doesn't think his dad "needs to see" Heated Rivalry 12:53

    Auckland:
    Police are investigating a suspicious house fire in Auckland's Wesley, which sent its sole occupant to hospital 12:27

    Entertainment:
    Tom Brady doesn't "have much time for a personal life" 12:23

    Politics:
    A return to running candidates in the Maori seats isn't on the cards for New Zealand First in this year's election 11:57

    Entertainment:
    Carol Burnett wants to quit acting now she's in her 90s 11:53

    Politics:
    Iranian protesters are calling on Trump to intervene — but the shadow of 1953 still haunts the US 11:47

    Entertainment:
    Ne-Yo is in "one relationship with three people" 11:23


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd