Demi Moore nearly lost her role in “St Elmo’s Fire” to Madonna after allegedly showing up “drunk and high” to a fitting.
“Joel [Schumacher] and Lauren Shuler met with Demi,” co-writer Carl Kurlander said on today’s episode of “Reality Life with Kate Casey,” referencing the iconic 1985 movie’s director and producer.
Kurland claimed his “mentor” Schumacher told him that he told the Oscar nominee, “Go kill yourself on someone else’s movie.”
He added that producer “Lauren Shuler Donner, God bless her, worked out a plan with Joel, saying, ‘Look, if you can clean yourself up in 10 days you can be in this movie.’”
Kurlander further claimed that Schumacher “had met Madonna,” and said that “This girl is going to be the biggest star in the world. I could just feel it.”
The movie’s co-writer added that the director “was all ready to offer the part to Madonna” — but Moore began going to AA meetings and got a sober companion.
“She clearly had more than just cleaned up,” Kurlander said of the “Substance” actress.
A rep for Moore did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment on Thursday.
Moore, now 63, went on to play Jules Van Patten — the troubled but brilliant “party girl” of the star-studded cast — opposite Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Mare Winningham.
The Golden Globe winner has previously acknowledged she had a sober companion during filming on the coming-of-age movie, saying in the 2024 Hulu documentary “Brats” that Schumacher “really stuck his neck out for me because it’s not like I had any box-office draw.”
“I didn’t have anything to really warrant him sticking by me,” she told McCarthy during a conversation for the doc. “They paid to have a sober companion with me 24/7 during the whole shooting.”
She noted, “they could have easily just found someone else.”
Moore ultimately sought treatment after years of struggling with addiction issues. She’s been sober since seeking treatment in 2012.
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