Demi Moore speaks out on the 'cruel' treatment she received in Hollywood once she turned 40

Demi Moore has opened up about how turning 40 affected her relationship with Hollywood.

The actor, now 61, said that she felt as though she 'didn't belong' in Hollywood anymore, and described how she had felt after her appearance in the movie Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle in a bikini caused 'conversation'.

It's no secret that despite big strides in advocacy for body positivity, the scathing and unrelenting double standard in the attention paid to female celebrities' appearance continues.

In an interview with Michelle Yeow from Interview magazine, Demi Moore opened up about how she felt that the scrutiny over her appearance only intensified after she turned 40.

The star drew particular attention to her appearance in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, in which she played the villain.

One scene saw her on screen in a bikini, which sparked extensive conversation at the time over her appearance and her age.

Demi Moore opened up about how she was treated after turning 40. (Gary Gershoff/WireImage)

Moore opened up about how the experience affected her, saying that it had even made her question whether she belonged in Hollywood.

She said: "I had done 'Charlie’s Angels', and there was a lot of conversation around this scene in a bikini, and it was all very heightened, a lot of talk about how I looked."

The star went on to say that being 40 meant that she didn't fit into the stereotypical Hollywood archetypes - the leading lady and the 'mother'.

Moore said: "I found that there didn’t seem to be a place for me. I didn’t feel like I didn’t belong.

"It’s more like I felt that feeling of, I’m not 20, I’m not 30, but I wasn’t yet what they perceived as a mother ... Where do I fit in? It was a time that felt, not dead, but flat."

Moore appeared in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. (SGranitz/WireImage)

She added: “There was a moment, I have to say, where I started to wonder, is this really what I should be doing? Maybe that part of my life is complete. Not even over, but complete. Then I realized, if I’m questioning it, then I need to inject it with energy so that I know for sure.”

Yeoh replied by calling the treatment 'cruel', saying: "Hollywood is cruel to women of that age, where you don’t find the scripts or the characters that resonate with you anymore.

"It’s either, you are the mother or you’re old enough not to be sexy in their eyes."

Moore's latest movie, a body horror film called The Substance directed by Coralie Fargeat, unpacks this toxic relationship with ageing.

In the movie, Moore plays an older actress who takes a black market drug to appear youthful, with predictably horrifying results.