When I first read about this story, the first thought to spring to mind was that someone in Demi Moore’s camp had persuaded her to take Kaiser’s advice and position herself much differently for the post-Ashton era of life. You know, after Ashton made his wife look like a fool by sleeping around with randoms for almost the entirety of their six-year marriage. Kaiser’s point was that Demi didn’t need to be playing Ms. Sexy Young Thing by dancing for salivating men in bars and, instead, should forge a new image of confidence and maturity.

Well, Demi has just taken a step towards doing just that by signing onto play noted feminist Gloria Steinem in the much-maligned Linda Loveless biopic called Lovelace. Yes, it’s a movie about porn, but ever since the film’s producers dropped Lindsay Lohan in the leading role, all sorts of A-to-B-listers have signed onto the movie. Oddly enough, Amanda Seyfried is now playing Linda (although Malin Akerman was briefly rumored for the part as well), but I guess the least surprising casting news of all is the role of Hugh Hefner, who will be played by (who else?) James Franco, who will probably show his butt and then insist that someone get fired for not appreciating it enough. Hopefully, Demi will steer clear of that nonsense, right?

Coming off strong reviews for her supporting turns in Margin Call and Another Happy Day, Demi Moore is set to cameo as feminist activist Gloria Steinem in Lovelace, which has also added Adam Brody and Eric Roberts to its ensemble cast.

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman are directing the indie drama, which stars Amanda Seyfried as Linda Boreman, who, as Linda Lovelace, became the world’s first erotic superstar due to the success of Deep Throat.

Peter Sarsgaard and Sharon Stone co-star alongside Juno Temple, Wes Bentley, Hank Azaria, Bobby Cannavale, Chris Noth, Robert Patrick, Romeo Brown and James Franco, who’s working out his schedule to accommodate a cameo as Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

Steinem founded Ms. Magazine, which published the infamous article “The Real Linda Lovelace,” in which Steinem discussed Linda’s relationship with her abusive pornographer husband Chuck Traynor, who she blamed for creating the myth that Linda “loved to be sexually used and humiliated.” When Lovelace announced her first memoir Ordeal, she was joined at the press conference by Steinem and other supportive members of the feminist group Women Against Pornography. Steinem later wrote the introduction for Lovelace’s 1986 memoir, Out of Bondage.

Brody will play Linda’s Deep Throat co-star Harry Reems, while Roberts will play Nat Laurendi, the lie detector expert who administered a polygraph test to Linda at the request of her publisher.

[From Variety]

While I’m not entirely certain that this movie will be good news for the career of anyone involved, this is definitely a step in the right direction for Demi. It will probably also bode well for her to gain a few pounds in advance of filming so that she doesn’t constantly remind the film’s audience of a woman who used weight loss as a cry for help towards her cheating, (borderline?) misogynistic husband. Can Demi actually pull off the role though? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Here’s a photo of Gloria Steinem herself at the Women’s Media Awards on 11/30 of last year.

Photos courtesy of Fame