Los Angeles, June 19: Label it comeback or "shift of focus," but whatever you call it, Demi Moore's re-appearance on the Hollywood scene comes complete with a new film, new body, and possibly a new boyfriend. Playing a sexy villainess, Moore is on the screen again in "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," her first major role since 1997's "G.I. Jane."


But don't call it a comeback. "Well, comeback would imply that I've left, and I didn't really leave, I was just focusing on something else, says the 40-year-old Moore. "I didn't make a conscious decision that I'm rejecting this, there's nothing that motivated me that I'm not going to do this, so for me it's just a shift of focus."


Prior to her first shift of focus, Moore was part of Hollywood's A list, initially drawing attention as one of young filmdom's "Brat Pack," and then starring in the unlikely 1990 blockbuster, "Ghost." She then made a few duds like "The Butcher's Wife" and "The Scarlet Letter," and a couple of hits, including "A Few Good Men" and "Indecent Proposal." Soon after, she nabbed the biggest payday for an actress, taking home a then-record $12.5 million (USD) for the 1996 film "Striptease." Bad reviews for that and "G.I. Jane" were rumored to be instrumental in her self-imposed exile. In her long hiatus, Moore divorced Bruce Willis and took up full time residence in the tiny mountain town of Hailey, Idaho, where she continued to raise the couple's three daughters, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah.

Unbeknownst to her, Drew Barrymore, the producer and star of "Charlie's Angels," was busy with the script for the sequel, and along with director McG, conceived the part of gun-wielding, Ferrari-driving Lee just for Moore. The actress, reportedly having advanced beyond the behavior that once earned her the title of diva, was looking for something more, or perhaps less, than her name above the title. "I don't think I look at it in terms of size, or a value placed on that . . . I think it was really just, one, it was brought to me as an invitation to join in something that was going to be a lot of fun with big guarantees of a lot of fun and an opportunity to play." Moore's fallen angel is teamed up with returning good angels Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu.
The film also teams her up with ex-husband Willis, who has a small role. "Both times we've ever worked together I killed him," says Moore, who takes little credit for his casting. "You know, I was just the facilitator, I just made the phone call. It was really something that McG and Drew got an idea of and probably for the same reasons that I had certain pressure from three very strong ladies in my household I think their father got the same."


Besides her return to work, Moore is getting as much press for her reported relationship with 25-year-old Hollywood "It" boy, Ashton Kutcher, star of television's "That '70s Show," and the big-screen comedies "Just Married," and "Dude, Where's My Car." In a town that yawns about May-December romances between older men and younger women, Moore is asked about the hypocrisy of the media, overly attentive to her social life.


“I don't know. You know, I just try to keep going with the flow, and stay out of the bulls eye."


Whatever the case, Moore is now squarely in the bull's eye and will remain so, at least through June 27, when "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" hits North American theaters.


Bureau Report