The Substance came just in time to transition the gay world from Brat Summer into Brat Autumn. From its camp yet grotesque brand of horror, to featuring gay icons Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley as its leads, to its thrumming electronic score, the film feels right at home in Charli xcx’s so-called Brat-osphere. Now, in a new interview, Qualley confirmed that The Substance being part of the Charli-verse is no coincidence.

Speaking to Brut, Qualley revealed that she listened to Charli’s pre-Brat music while filming The Substance to get into character as Sue, the ultra-beautiful product of the titular Substance.

“To me, it’s kind of wild timing, the way that the universe works, because we all just had the Brat Summer, right? With Charli xcx? And I was listening to Charli as my Sue inspo,” Qualley said. “Because she has a lot of good kind of, like, pump it up girl songs. I didn’t mean to say ‘pump it up,’ but that was probably just like a slip in my head.” (Pump It Up, of course, is the title of the exercise show Sue hosts in The Substance).

“To me, I got that kind of Sue energy from Charli’s old music,” Qualley continued. “So that’s where my head was.”

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Fans were happy to hear the news, which validated the connection between Charli and The Substance that audiences were already inexplicably feeling. “Girl, so confusing” could just as easily be about Elisabeth Sparkle and Sue as it is about Charli and Lorde — and there are plenty of edits on TikTok to prove it.

@sullenskin

the SUBSTANCE💜 #margaretqualley #demimoore #thesubstance #charlixcx #brat #girlsoconfusing #fyp #foryoupag #xyzabc #edit #fy

♬ original sound – s
@l1ycn

girl, so confusing #thesubstance #demimoore #margaretqualley

♬ original sound – L1YCN
@mirafromnowhere

YOU. ARE. ONE! #thesubstance #thesubstanceedit #margaretqualley #margaretqualleyedit #demimoore #demimooreedit #sue #sueedit #elizabethsparkle #elizabethsparkleedit #charlixcx #charlixcxedit #brat #bratedit #addisonrae #omg #fyp #edit

♬ som original – sofia ༊*·˚

Moore, posed with the same question about the music she used to get into character, said hers “was more silence,” causing her and Qualley to burst into laughter. “It was! Like, a world that was absent,” she continued. “Everything was void. Everything, really. It was like it needed to be more nothing.” Check out Moore and Qualley’s interview with Brut below.

@brutamerica

Brut sat down with Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore, stars of the new horror film “The Substance,” to talk about aging, beauty in the modern world, and their connection to their characters. @demimoore #thesubstance #thesubstancemovie #margaretqualley #demimoore #celebrityinterview #entertainmentnews

♬ original sound – Brut.

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