Kathy Bates is cheering on Demi Moore this awards season. After Bates, 76, and Moore, 62, both won awards at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards on Friday, Feb. 7, Bates responded to questions from reporters in the press room about the horror genre seeing surprising representation at the upcoming Academy Awards, where Moore’s film The Substance received five nominations, including for Moore’s performance. “I always felt it’s the performance you can’t really substitute. It’s the work that always speaks for itself,” Bates said backstage.
The actress memorably won an Oscar in 1991 for her leading role in the adaptation of Stephen King‘s horror novel Misery. Bates expressed her admiration for The Substance, stating, “I did see [The Substance], I think it’s great. I never thought of Demi as a popcorn actress ever.” This comment was a nod to Moore’s anecdote during her Golden Globe speech in January, where she mentioned a Hollywood producer once referred to her as “a popcorn actress.”
“She’s Demi. She’s done amazing work and I love seeing her being recognized for this,” Bates added. “And as she said, it’s an absolute bonkers movie, but so true. And I just think when you make a real human being, no matter what the genre is, you make a real human being people can relate to then I think you’re in.”
Moore appears to be the frontrunner to win the Oscars’ Best Actress award after picking up wins at the Golden Globes and at the Critics Choice Awards. At the forthcoming 97th Academy Awards on March 2, Moore is nominated alongside Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), Mikey Madison (Anora), and Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here).
“I just want to say the very recognition, not just for me, but for what this film is about, what it’s trying to convey, your acknowledgement is almost like the elixir. It is the healing balm to the very issue the film brings forward,” Moore said while accepting her Critics Choice Award on Feb. 7.
“And I am so grateful not just for my performance, but that you have highlighted this film, this genre of, normally horror films, that are overlooked and not seen for the profundity that they can hold,” Moore continued. Bates, meanwhile, was also nominated for her role in Matlock at the Golden Globes, but Shōgun’s Anna Sawai took home that honor.
