Demi Moore has defended her controversial movie ‘G.I. Jane’.

The 61-year-old actress starred in the heavily-criticised 1997 flick as Lieutenant Jordan O'Neill, the first woman to join the U.S. Navy, and now Moore believes the motion picture was “killed months before anyone had ever seen it”.

Speaking with Vanity Fair, she said: “I don't know all the reasons, but maybe it was a combination of becoming the highest paid actress. Which was an amazing thing, not just for me but for all women.”

Moore theorised the poor reception to the Sir Ridley Scott flick - which only grossed $41.1 million on a budget of $50 million - could’ve been in part due to her “betraying women” with her 1996 erotic comedy ‘Striptease’.

She continued: “It seemed as if I had betrayed women for 'Striptease' and I was betraying men with ‘G.I. Jane’.

“And I think those two things really became almost like the media drive to go, ‘Well does she really deserve it?’ And maybe it just being ahead of its time.”

The ‘About Last Night’ star felt like she was “targeted and shamed” for her role in the action flick.

She added: “In some ways, I feel like I was targeted and shamed. It kind of blurred it from really being seen just for what it was. They didn't allow it to kind of stand on its own.”

But Moore believes Scott made “a really thoughtful, intelligent film” that expertly challenged societal gender norms and expectations.

She explained: “I think the film really holds up. I hear it a lot from people. I think that Ridley made a really thoughtful, intelligent film, that really tackled the subject matter.”

While the actress was panned for her performance in the picture, ‘G.I. Jane’ screenwriter David Twohy previously insisted Moore “nailed it”.

He told Yahoo Entertainment: “It’s the performance of her career.

“The movie rises or falls on her performance, and that required her to have a total, unflinching commitment to that part. And she had that commitment - I think she nailed it.”