Rumer Willis Danced in Demi Moore’s Shoes During Lunch Breaks on Striptease (Exclusive)

Rumer Willis is walking down memory lane — in her mom Demi Moore’s heels. 

The actress, 36, “loved every second” of costarring in her first major film, 1996’s Striptease, as the onscreen daughter of Moore, 62, who played a mother working as a stripper.

“I was just so enamored and kind of like, ‘What is this world? What’s going on here?’ ” she says.

What does Willis, who was only 7 years old, remember about the experience? “I loved the costumes,” she recalls to PEOPLE. “During lunch sometimes I would go try and put my mom’s shoes on and a feather boa and dance around the stage.”

Also starring Armand Assante, Ving Rhames, Robert Patrick and Burt Reynolds, Andrew Bergman’s Striptease made waves for giving Moore the biggest-ever paycheck for an actress at the time. Willis was present for many of her mother’s racy scenes at the strip club, which “delighted” her, she says: “I was like, oh, there’s all these ladies around me all the time. I was just so enamored.”

Though the film marked Willis’ first “real role,” she says, Moore resisted letting it become too regular of a routine. “I think if my mom had let me, I probably would’ve totally been a child actor,” says Willis. “I’ve always loved acting.”

When Willis was filming her new Civil War-era action film Trail of Vengeance, 2-year-old daughter Louetta joined her much like Willis herself did on the sets of dad Bruce Willis and Moore’s movies. 

“Louetta comes with me everywhere and she’s always on set with me,” explains Willis. “It’s in my DNA, because I grew up this way… I was exposed to so many different people and so many different cultures and languages and just amazing artistry when I was a kid on set.”

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That was no less true on Striptease, which Willis names as one of her Oscar-nominated mother’s many boundary-pushing accomplishments.

“Sometimes I look at her, I’m like, ‘Hey, lady, can you slow down a little bit? The rest of us are just trying to keep up,’ ” she quips.

“She has been a leader for women and has been redefining beauty her whole career. She was the first person to be pregnant on the cover of a magazine,” Willis points out.

After Striptease, “there’ve been so many movies that gave women permission to not be afraid to show their bodies. She was the first one to really kind of redefine playing with masculinity and femininity in G.I. Jane. There’ve been so many milestones where she has been at the forefront.”

Moore winning the Golden Globe, SAG Award and more for her buzzy performance in last year’s The Substance was just the latest example of her mother’s trailblazing, she adds. “As a daughter and then also as an actor, as a peer, it’s been such an exciting time to see her finally receive awareness and accolades.”

Trail of Vengeance, from director Johnny Remo, is in select theaters and on VOD now.