Moore, and Better

10/24/2002 at 11:00 AM EDT

Jennifer Campbell was looking forward to a mellow Sunday night out -- and Hailey, Idaho (pop. 6,500), rarely offers any other kind. But the mother of three was in for a shock on Sept. 29 when she walked into the Mint, the Main Street nightclub owned by local Bruce Willis. Instead of the usual deejay-and-beer scene, a crew of thong-clad Chippendales were gyrating away. And among the hundreds of women enjoying the beefcake was Willis's ex-wife Demi Moore. "At first she was just sitting there with some friends, watching," says Campbell. "But then they started getting rowdy." Tying her shirt up to bare a taut tummy, Moore stood and "started doing her Striptease dance," Campbell says. "The guys would come out and she would show them her moves, kind of like, 'You guys got something? Well, watch this!' " The crowd did -- with envy. "Her body is like a 15-year-old's," marvels Campbell. "I'm like, 'Forget watching those Chippendales!' She was way more entertaining."

Indeed, with her 40th birthday looming on Nov. 11, Moore looks like she's pushing, oh, 23 -- and after five years prioritizing motherhood over movie stardom, she's once again ready for her close-up. Even appearing in a bikini alongside coltish Cameron Diaz didn't faze her: Shooting a beach scene in early October for Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Moore (who plays an ex-Angel gone bad in the sequel, due in June) wowed cast and crew when she unveiled a look far sleeker than the pumped-up days of '96's Striptease and '97's G.I. Jane. "Oh my God, it's insane -- she has the most beautiful figure," says Angels costar Drew Barrymore. "And I heard she pigged out on Chinese food right before we shot."

Her secret? When it comes to exercise, apparently less is Moore. "If she works out hard, she gets too cut and it doesn't look great," says a close friend. "She's lucky though. She doesn't have to do too much. She just has a great body." Of course, she's not simply lying on the BarcaLounger. She swims and Rollerblades at home in Idaho, where she has an outdoor pool and weight room, and trained with martial-arts expert Oliver Whitcomb -- her ex-boyfriend -- to perfect her roundhouse kicks for Angels. (For a boost, she gulps Red Bull, an energy drink.) Still, it's a far cry from the years when she would bike 30 miles before breakfast. "Now she's at a place where she has come into her own," says her friend and producing partner Suzanne Todd. "She's embracing who she wants to be as a person and not focusing on how she looks but how she feels. Having done that, she's better-looking than ever."