Happy Sad Confused - Chloe Grace Moretz

Episode Date: January 18, 2016

The lovely and talented Chloe Grace Moretz joins Josh this week to chat about her latest film The 5th Wave, her recent 50 hour binge watch of Game of Thrones, an intense road trip to Nashville, her early memories of being on set, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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please contact ConX Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. Hi, guys. I'm Josh Horowitz, and this is Happy, Sad, Confused, my weekly podcast where I talk to some of the top filmmakers, actors, comedians, representatives of the world of entertainment. Welcome to this week's show, guys. This week, my guest is the lovely, the talented, perhaps the youngest guest I think we've had on Happy Say I Confused, the great Chloe Grace Moretz. starring at a new movie called The Fifth Wave, had a lovely chat with Chloe, who is way too smart for a 19-year-old. I certainly was not that wise at that age, but she's got her shit together, and we have a great talk about the film, her career, and a lot of silly things. But before we get to all that, I want to start on a little bit of a sad note. For anybody that's a fan of movies theater, the passing of Alan Rickman was a big blow a few days ago. I know it hit me hard.

I think it hit everybody hard, especially because this is one of those that there were no indications. This is a guy that at 69 years old was working prolifically and had been no reports about his illness. But sadly, he's no longer with us. And he leaves behind an amazing body of work. Of course, the Harry Potter films will live on for generations. But die hard. Robin Hood, Love Actually, films he directed. Um, he directed two films in his career. Um, I was privileged to, to talk to Alan Rickman a few times over, over the years, um, in my job at MTV, a lot for Harry Potter, but also for some of his smaller films. He came into the studio a couple years ago and we chatted about CBGB, um, uh, in which he played, uh, hilly crystal, the, the infamous, uh, creator of CBGs. Um, and then most recently, it was just this past July that, uh, Alan Rickman came in and he did the podcast. And this is a sad,

distinction, but a one worth knowing. He is unfortunately the first of our first guest that that's passed away that's been on the show. And that's, uh, it's not even a distinction. It's just, it's just a horrible thing. And, uh, really, really sad news today, um, to talk about this. But, um, I wanted to celebrate the man. I want to celebrate his work, um, in whatever way we could with a little remembrance, um, from our conversation this past July. He was promoting a film called a little chaos that he had directed, that starred himself and Kate Winslet, a good friend of his. And let's let the man speak in his own voice and give you a sense of sort of the gravitas, the intelligence, the man that he was in this conversation. Here's a little excerpt of us talking about Die Hard, one of my favorite performances of Alan Rickman.

And it should be noted, Alan Rickman made his film debut in Die Hard. at, by the time that film opened, he was 42 years old. So, if you think you haven't gotten your act together, don't worry. Alan Rickman had a second life, as it were, as a film actor, started his career as a graphic designer up until 25, went on to do some great stage work, and then reinvented himself as a film actor, and made quite a debut in Die Hard. Here we are talking about that. So when you start to do film, did you find that you need to develop? a whole different set of skills where you did you have to kind of start from scratch in some respects yeah because when I was doing die hard I'd never made a

film before and I'd done some television but I'd never worked under that sort of pressure in Hollywood yeah with all with that it was such a heavy spotlight on what you were doing and so much at stake and I only knew to approach it like I'd approach to theatre play. So John McTiernan said fairly early on, he said, I've learned with you, I have to be, have everything ready for the first take. Because I was like, you know, a greyhound out of a trash. And I really had to learn what I was supposed to do would take two, three, four, five years. I've got nothing left. What do I do now? Now what? I did it. Where did, as much as I love your portrayal of Hans Gruber, I also love your portrayal of Bill Clay.

in the film? Where did that voice come from? Where did that pleading, poor American come from? Was there any inspiration for that? In a way, you know, that was all about, I think many people tell very various stories about how that happened, but the truth of it, from my point of view, is I was being fitted for a load of terrorist gear, and I looked at the guys who were going to be playing my henchmen, and I said, why am I wearing this stuff? when look at the size of them, wouldn't it be more interesting? This is me thinking I'm in a play.

I've got a right to say something about the plot. So I'm saying, wouldn't it be more interesting if I wore a suit? And also, if I wore a suit, there could be a scene where I met him and then I could pretend to be one of the hostages. Right. Whatever anybody else tells you,

that's what happened. That's what you remember. Then people tested me out on an American accent. And I just had, unless I know what specific, I just have an American accent. I don't know what it is or where it's from. But, yeah, I went away and I came back from, I went away from L.A., came back to ready to start shooting.

And I was handed these pages of a script. And suddenly I was being fitted for an Armani suit. So it pays to think about it. And anyway, it was a good idea. The great Alan Rickman, gone too soon at the age of 69. On to this week's show, guys. As I said, Chloe Grace Moretz is our guest this week. She is a super talented actress who seemed to come out of the womb with amazing skills.

She's been acting since she was a child. She almost still was a child. She's a grown woman now. She's 19 years old. And part of the fun for me over the years has been to see someone like Chloe mature into a really self-possessed, a woman who is not afraid to speak her mind and to make intelligent choices and to grow as an actor. And we get into all of that in this really frank conversation. She's promoting her new film, The Fifth Wave, which is a big kind of sci-fi spectacle, but a lot of

big emotions in this, too. This is based on a very popular YA series. It opens this Friday. I'm sure they're hoping that this continues on for several films to come. We'll see what happens. But regardless, Chloe, don't worry about Chloe. This is a woman that's worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese and Matt Reeves. Her performance and let me in is remarkable, not to mention hit girl in the kick-ass movies. So always good chatting with Chloe. She always gives me a lot of shit. She likes to poke at me.

I think she thinks of me as her weird big brother at times. And that's fine. It's always fun to mix it up with her. I hope you guys enjoy this chat. As always, hit me up on Twitter, Joshua Harowitz. And let me know what you're enjoying, who you want to hear on the podcast. And in the meantime, please enjoy this conversation with the talented Chloe Grace Morett. It's good to see you.

Good to say, well. What? Yeah. Why are we? I'm kidding. It's good to see you, too, Joshua. I was thinking, you're one of the few that call me Joshua. Me and your mom.

Basically, my sister. I'm trying to figure out who's matured more over the years. I feel like I first spoke to you when you were probably when the kick-ass come out. I was 12. 12. Okay, so? I was a baby. You were a baby.

It was seven years ago. I've not changed at all. No. I wanted to give you something there, but no. I'm stuck here and MTV locks me up in my closet. You get locked in a little closet. But it's been exciting to see the way your career has developed and in terms of the choices you've made. made in terms of the directors you've gone to work with, and in terms of opportunities like

the fifth wave, which is a big moment. It's cool. So talk to me a little bit about, okay, let's, first of all, I feel like since we talk every month or two, and because we follow each other on social media, I know everything happens in your life, but let me just clarify some things. Okay, so Game of Thrones, what happened? I, okay, I locked myself in my room for three days. I'm not kidding.

Like, you can ask my family members, they didn't see me for three days, and I watched 50 hours worth of just HBO's Game of Thrones. So had you ever, you literally start in scratch, and now when you were totally up to date? Completely. See, this is an ongoing discussion I have with people. I've never watched it myself, and it's when I know. You would, I know what, I know where you are right now.

You've been there? And it's where I was. Everybody good? Sorry. Oh yeah, okay. It's where I was before I found the light in my life. I can't. Was it a lot to absorb? Because I tried to watch the first couple episodes. It's a lot to take in from my small minds. The first three episodes, it's,

you just got to swim past it. You know, you've got to keep going, get past the first three of the first season, because it's just kind of boring. And then, like, literally, it's episode four of the first season where you go like, okay, it's really popping off. And then it's that season finale of season one where you're, it's, it's, do they talk like that in the show that's popping off? Is that a big John Snow thing, what he says? John Snow. I did feel left out when the whole John Snow thing happened last year. I also feel like it's been ruined for me now

because I know about the wedding, I know about the whole... You think you know about the wedding, but you don't really. I don't know, actually. Because I kind of knew about the wedding, and then when you watch it, you go, I didn't know about the wedding. I didn't, not really, because I'm invested now. Right.

It also really messes with, like, love. Because, you know, when you watch a TV show, you become very involved. Yeah. You know, like, you feel like when you watch friends, you are one of the friends. Speak for yourself. You know? Then when you watch Game of Thrones, after that first seasons, you, I can't trust anyone.

Right. I can't love them. They could beheaded at any moment. And then they are, and it's shocking. It's a good lesson for life. Even the babies. Aw. Even the babies.

So what's occupied your brain matter since getting through Game of Thrones? Have you done the Making a Murder yet? As we speak, everybody on the planet is... No. I mean, as I was watching that, my brother Trevor was watching Mickey Murder, and I would be screaming at Game of Thrones in my room, and then I'd hear him be like, this is so frustrating. It's insane. It's insane. I think I know.

I don't talk to back to the TV. I talked back to the TV frequently during this one. Yeah, apparently. I'm out, though, there. I don't know. I've got one up on you. How's driving going? We've talked about this in the past.

You know, I don't drive, but I think now you do? Yep. I'm already ahead of you there. See, I grew up a lot compared to you are. That's what I'm saying. You're a fully functional adult, and I am still, I'm regressing. I'm going back. Slowly regressing into, like, wheelchairdom. I'm basically Benjamin Button. You're except for the great effects of getting younger.

Except I have nothing in common Brad Pitt. How's, do you get an opportunity to drive much? Yeah, like I had this huge opportunity where I went on this 4,000 mile trip cross country. I went a little crazy, okay? Yeah, that's extreme. I'll admit, I was a little drastic in my decision, because halfway through, I was like, well, 2,200 miles more. Where's the closest? And I'm in Kansas.

So, Mike, you must have seen a lot of very interesting things on your travels. I did and did not. I saw some completely meaningless strips of road. There is a bit of that. Which is a lot of it. Yeah. But I saw some cool stuff. I got to see, like, Colorado Springs, which I actually really liked.

And I saw all in Nashville. Nice. I couldn't really do anything in Nashville, though, because everything's over 21 there. Right. So, like, I walked around Nashville. This wasn't like you by yourself in a car on a visual quest, was it? It was like the saddest road trip ever. No, that's horrible.

No, I went with our friend Nick, my brother, his boyfriend. Nice. I went with Nick. Excellent, excellent. I did have a company. Okay, let's take stock more pop culture before we get into Fifth Wave stuff. other excitement. Star Wars? Seen Star Wars? Yeah. Oh my God, yeah. What do you think? Great. It's amazing. I think it's great. I think it's, what's cool is that it's like the old

ones, which is, you know what I mean? Yeah. It's nice to see it feel and sound and like be able to watch something. Because I had never seen Star Wars in theaters. Right. Ever. Right. So this is like my first Star Wars experience on a big screen. So it just feels like different for me. What about, so wait, when the prequels came out, that would have hit you like in the right age. Like that was actually directed to, like, your age group, I feel like. Not really, no? I think I was, I watched, see, I watched all of those growing up as a kid with my brothers. Like, we had DVDs at a moment.

Yeah. Like, the ones with Natalie Portman. Sure. Like, all those, like, I watched those on DVD. Right. I was, like, four? Right. Five.

So did, um... I was born in 97, so that's... Please don't remind me. I was born in 1997. I was in college. Britney Spears released. Did, um... So when you're watching something like Star Wars,

there's all this talk about a great thing that Ray is the significant character. Yeah, it's cool. I mean, that is a moment, right? It's a huge moment. And not just the fact that, because some movies will just put a woman in the lead, but not actually utilize her. They'll just be like, look, we have a strong female lead.

She doesn't do anything. Right. And at the end of the day, she still doesn't accomplish anything. She's just there, though. And we booked her in it. Whereas, like, in Star Wars, they actually did cast a female lead. And she's not just any typical lead.

I mean, it's a predominantly kind of masculine role in the sense that, like, she is the one saving and fighting. And, you know, especially in that last scene with the lightsabers and stuff. Like, she, it's not this male-female fight thing. It's like, it's almost like two, what you would look at it in the past, it would be like a two men fighting. And also it's very equal. I mean, frankly, segueing into the current project that you're promoting, I mean, it's,

it's not a character that's defined by a relationship to a dude. No, not at all. Actually, like, it's, in a sense, like the guy holds her back more than anything. So she's more undefined when she's with him than when she's alone. Exactly. In an interesting way. So in terms of the fifth wave, this is something that I know, I mean, it's a big deal to a lot of fans. It's one of these things that has a big fan base, obviously.

Were you getting the sense or pressure or feel in the last couple years where like, okay, there are all these kind of really beloved franchises that are going and coming and going, and people are getting these opportunities, where's mine? Or was it sort of like when it happens, if it happens great, and if it never happens, that's okay. I had been offered a few when I was younger kind of coming up. They were kind of like, oh, we want you to do this one or that one. And I just hadn't found one that I felt like I would want to potentially spend

the next five years of my life, hopefully, if it does well, five years of my life doing. So for me, when this one came around, what really struck me about it was the difference between this and any of the others. Even the really successful big ones, I mean, I think what's interesting about it is it's not this dystopian universe. You know, we're not dealing hundreds or thousands or even 10 years in the future.

It's today. Yeah. It's right now. And it's not a story about a young girl forced into a love triangle and trying to, you know, being pulled out for these extraordinary reasons because she's special, more special than anyone else.

It's like, no, she's a very average young girl with literally little to know survival training at all. And it's a story, a human story about perseverance. And just honestly, it's a story about humans trying to connect to one another again and piece back together their lives, which is in some ways you can kind of reference it to society right now and how we're trying to piece back together what we were before, you know, electronics and stuff. It's an eye-opening film in that like literally in the first like three minutes what you go through or what you're doing, you're like, okay, I mean, even by like, because, you know,

quote-unquote Y-A stuff can get dark, but this is, this is really dark. It's very serious. Yeah. It goes to some crazy places. I mean, within the first act, within the first 15. Your character goes through quite some trauma, to say the least. So, so do you think our comparison, I mean, the comparisons are inevitable to characters like Katness and Tris, right? I mean, do you think those are fair at all, or do you feel like it's just apples and autism? I think in terms of strong, Women, yes, they both, they, all I think all three of them have a lot of courage. Yeah.

I think the difference is they all had a skill set. You know, Trist had this thing that she didn't even really understand that she had. I think in some ways you can say it's kind of like Trist in the beginning because they both don't really know what they're going to go do. But the difference is Trist decides and jumps into that pit willingly. Right. Whereas Cassie has shoved into it, ripped away from her family and said, go basically sit in the woods to die. Yeah. On your own.

And she has to make the choice of whether or not to sit there and wallow and self-pity and eventually die or to pick up the courage to say, no, my brother's alone. Somewhere where I don't even know where he is, but I think I'm going to go here to try and find him. I'm going to pick myself up off of this ground, off of this dirt, pick up this gun that I've never shot a gun before my life, and go on this manhunt in a sense for her brother. It's essentially, this is the worst analogy ever. I think it's San Andreas, if you were. It's right. Natural disasters.

I have the rock. Natural disasters. You're going off to save your family, no matter what the cost. It's true. Basically. Yes, and yes, exactly. Just add aliens. Right.

It's San Andreas. I'm the rock because of this, obviously. Add aliens. Right. Well, you and Dwayne go up for a lot of the same roles, right? Yes. If you could choose one Dwayne Johnson performance over the years that you'd like a crack at. Game change.

I mean. That's the one. You belong in the Fast and Furious. Now that you drive. I should have been in Fast Infurious. It's not too late. That franchise keeps going. I'm just offended that they didn't come to me first.

Well, don't let that get to you. This franchise is stronger than ever. This is 2016. It's been a long day. This is 2012. No, no. That's a different movie. Another disaster movie, though.

No. Are you, but you are a consumer of this kind of stuff, of this genre of thing. Genre, genre. What, come on, why? We're having serious, thoughtful conversation, and I make air quotes, and it's like, why judge me? I was making air quotes before you were born. Let me have this. Genre.

Okay, 90s. Doesn't really make, oh, wow. Was that a 90s thing, air quotes? So 90s. What? The only reason that I feel like, yeah, it's useful for me to talk to you over a couple months because I feel like it reminds me of how old I am and how out of touch I am. It's getting hot on you.

Are you okay? I just feel like in all of our, we always have like some really good meaningful things, but then the other half is just laughing. That's the problem for this kind of extended conversation. Imagine what it's going to be like in 10 or 15 minutes. Yeah, I know. It's going to be okay. So, okay, let me rephrase the question so you don't mock me and set someone.

Yes, I'm a fan of the genre. Because you like, you were into the, The Hunger Games, you were into that stuff, right? Yeah, I'm a fan of sci-fi. I'm a very big fan of action and sci-fi. I always have been, like, it's just kind of growing up with four older brothers. It was just something I always watched and ended up loving, of course, because it was part of my childhood. So, yeah, yeah, I've always been a big fan of it.

Is it a coincidence you think that? Because, like, when I think of performers, like, at your age, very few young female performers are defined by, like, action and physicality the way that your career has thus far. Was that sort of just the luck of the draw that something like kickass happened when it did? Or was that kind of inevitable, given the kind of stuff that you were into? Yeah, I mean, I think that my personality definitely lint itself towards the more kind of aggressive, action-driven, you know, badass kind of. Right. She did the air quotes for podcast listeners.

No, she just did air quotes. Podcast listeners. Yes, I did the air quotes. But yeah, you know, in terms of, like, badass characters, my life in my child, and I guess growing up, it kind of lent itself to want to try more adventurous things, which inevitably falls into the category of action. So what in the, let's jump around a little bit. So, okay, after kickass, I can only imagine the kind of stuff that you got offered. Did you get offered like every controversial role ever? Like, oh, if she's going to push the envelope there.

They're like, oh, she's a crazy kid. We can't, they're like, you want to do meth? You want to do this role? Like, that was literally like what it was. Did it seem like it was just an immediate change in terms of that kind of? I feel like I just kind of became like, you know how like you kind of have like the demon kid, the kid to play the demon all the time? Right. I feel like I definitely, they wanted me to become like the crazy kid who's like crazy always.

Were you the demon kid growing up? Because a lot of the earth, because not in real life. I actually did audition for demon kid all the time. Because I was going to say I noticed like a lot of the early films, frankly, some of which I haven't seen were there was a lot of genre kind of stuff, a lot of hard. horror and that kind of thrillers, were you often the innocent or the demon or the, or did the both? I became the innocent. I would audition for both because like you just, you know, you audition for like everything that you can try and book. So for me, like I audition for both. I audition for like the girl who talked to the, to the ghost but was innocent. And like that's

why I ended up booking. But also like I would also audition for like the demon kid. It's just the fact that I was blonde and blue, like blonde and green eyed and like kind of. It's. Sweet-looking. Right. If they only knew me. But, you know, sweet-looking. Yeah, we know. So that's why I got hired for.

But, like, yeah, you know, I would all totally audition for those, like, demon roles. And I never booked them. So what are your early memories of being on set? I mean, are they fond? Are they confusing? They're terrible. No, they ruined me. No.

They were adventurous. I'd say, like, imagine a kid at a playground, but then make that playground, like, a multi-million-dollar film set, with, like, you're able to be put on wires and thrown up on a roof and, like, you're playing with fake blood and, like, you're faking being scared and you're fake crying and, like, all this crazy stuff's happening. Like, it was just, you know, a reason to stay up late because you were doing a night shoot. Like, it was just, like, fun, wild, extracurricular activity in a way. Like, that's the way I looked at it. And in terms of, I mean, I know, you know you relied a lot on your brother for, in terms of, like, help in the early days. And to the day, I know.

And the safety of it. And, yeah. Well, I'm curious, like, did you feel like you were just. sort of like behaving or were you acting at that point? Did you have technique or can you have technique when you're six or seven or it's it's in part you know he it's kind of strange because I at the very beginning of my career was so young that I auditorily had to learn lines right because I don't think I could even really read sure you know you're like your baby so A lot of it would slightly be line reads, but then he would teach me as I became older and tried new things to take direction.

So we would start with like kind of a line read, basically, and the way I learned lines, we would auditorily run the scene over and over and over and over and over and over. And then once I got the lines down, then we would try and play with it. So he would give me different notes and show me different inflections to respond to the notes he was giving me. So that way, when I went in for an audition, then I would be able to, like, when the director asked for something else, I go, oh, I have an idea of how I can change it up and give a different tape. You'd already been through the variations. Exactly, which then turned into techniques. Right. Like, then as I grew up, I was able to go, oh, okay, different inflections, different meanings, always give a different idea in each take, and that's how you take direction.

Do you still do that? Do you want me to do line readings for your next script? Do you want me to just read through the script? I would love that. It's for The Little Mermaid. I'm going I would actually love to hire you, Josh Trevor, I'm sorry

you're fired You had a good run Sorry dude Joshua Horowitz is now my acting coach And line reader You can blame me world When this film comes out What was she thinking?

I'm doing air quotes Not the whole movie The whole movie just be like I'm a human I was never a mermaid Today's sponsor of Happy Say I Confused is Casper Mattresses, obsessively engineered American-made mattresses at a shockingly fair price. And now you can get $50 towards any mattress purchased by going to casper.com slash happy and using the code happy. Listen, you guys, we spend about a third

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So get $50 towards any mattress purchase by going to caspar.com slash happy using the code happy. Terms and conditions apply. Okay, so what's, I mean, I've talked to a lot of actors about auditioning, but I feel like there's a whole other level of complexity when we're talking about a kid auditioning. I mean, it clearly didn't scar you or anything, because, but you do. have to face rejection when you're a kid? Is that something you were just luckily able to rationalize and be okay with? That was really only because of Mom and Trevor that I was able to not, like, take it seriously

because they didn't take it seriously. We took it seriously, but it wasn't like, this is do or die. If you don't get this role, like, this is over. Like, it was more like, yeah, you didn't book it. Sure. But there's, like, another audition we can go on and see if that works. So, like, I think because they treated it very nonchalantly, I never had this, like, gripping, like, if I don't book this, like, my career's over. I didn't have any pressure on me.

So it's like, yeah, if you put pressure on a kid to win their soccer game, when they don't win, they're going to be devastated. Sure. But if there's no pressure on the kid, they're going to be like, well, I mean, we lost, but we have another game next week. So when you look back on kind of the early experiences of the first few years, is there one film that you recall in terms of, like, you know, opening up some awareness of, like, oh, this is a craft, this is more than just playtime. What are the early experiences? I mean, I know like Scorsese later on was a huge one. But like early on, what was a turning point if there was one, you think?

I mean, early on, almost all those movies were. I mean, I did my first, you know, when I did my very first project ever, The Guardian, we had this scene with Simon Baker and I when we improved. And I had never, ever really improvved before. I didn't even get the concept of improvbing. Yeah. It's just the cameras were rolling, and he asked me questions, and I basically answered the questions as Chloe.

Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. So, like, every single moment I was having on set was some sort of learning experience because it wasn't an audition. You know what I mean? I was learning, like, basically, when I was really young, I started to learn, like, camera angles and, like, how to catch the light

and how to act to the camera and, like, know the camera's there, but not look at the camera, but, like, play to the camera. Right. So, like, every single movie I did, either it was technical or it was, like, technique-wise, I saw all different things. Like, when I did Amyville Horror, Ryan Reynolds was, like, doing this very method thing where, like, he treated us very methodly on set. And, like, when he was angry at us, he wouldn't really talk to us. And, like, so I saw different ways of acting around me. Right.

And then, like, when I did Big Momless House, too, I saw, like, Martin Lawrence in this fat costume. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I had all these strange experiences, but I was learning so. much so quickly. One film I feel like most of the audience hasn't heard of, but I find interesting is that, you know, if a movie came out today with you and Jennifer Lawrence,

directed by Lori Petty, which I find fascinating, what are your memories of working on something like that? You know, we were like a bunch of kids, because Jin was 15, 16. I mean, she was a baby. She was so young. It was her first movie she'd ever done

really, like, ever, because she'd done like, you know, some, like, TV things. short films, but this is our first, like, technical film. And we were just a bunch of kids filming in, like, I forgot even where it was. It was, like, Minnesota or, like, Wisconsin or something random. And we were just pretending to be these, like, really messed up broken home kids. And I was, you know, gent for me was, like, a sister. Like, she was, like, my older sister.

Like, I have all these photos of us, like, being kids, like being stupid. And it was, you know, none of us when knew what we were doing. And, you know, but at that moment, I remember that was, like, a huge turning point for Jen in her career because, like, when that came out, she won, like, the L.A. film festival. And, like, that was, like, the first big thing. It was also big for me because it was, like, one of my first big, dramatic roles. I find it curious, too, that, I mean, you know, back then, I assume it was more happenstance that you were working with someone like Lori Petty. But, like, in recent years, Kimberly Pierce and, you know, even some of your short films, I think Elizabeth Banks did one of your shorts, right? a lot of female directors, like a disproportionate amount than, sadly, than we're working.

Yeah. Has that, again, happenstance, or is that something that has been a luck at the draw or what? I think in a lot of ways it's been, you know, luck at the draw. Because of the roles I've chosen and the path that I've led, it's just, ever since I was a young kid, it's always been a very female, pro-female kind of centric movies. Right. Like, that's always what I've lent myself to. And then growing up through kick-ass, especially when that broke, everything was very, like, strong female-driven roles.

Right. And so I think it's kind of just the world that I surrounded myself in that allowed me to have these older women kind of have interest in me, to work with me. Because of what I've been doing, I was doing things on their kind of level in their adulthood as, like, a young kid in a way. So I think, yeah, it was more happenstance. I mean, now I take very cognizant kind of decisions to try and make more female-driven movies with female producers and directors and, you know, projects that are female-based. Is it also, I'm curious, have you ever looked at, like, kind of the careers of the ones that have succeeded in terms of transitioning from childhood actors to adults, whether it's, you know, a Natalie Portman or a Jody Foster, et cetera? Like, is that something important to kind of, like, keep aware of how you adapt to the industry in the industry? I think I've been pretty lucky in the sense that when I did break, it was in a very adult role.

Right. So I never had like this very strong tie to children of my own age from doing like a Disney show or something like that where like kids looked up to me as like a sister. Like I was already like, you know, my first line on screen was the C word. Like you know what I mean? Like I was doing really intense stuff with adults. So as I transitioned, I was already kind of in this adult realm that it was actually easier. for me to do things, like, if I stay, because then I was able to build a younger audience to come up with me, but I was already 17.

Yeah, I find it occurred to me when I was looking at, like, you know, the career progression in terms of, like, the roles you almost avoided as much as the ones you got. Yeah. And, like, when you did play kind of, like, the cliche, and it's not, wasn't a cliche, but it was, like, the sullen teenager, it was, of course, like, in a Tim Burton movie. If you're going to do it, that's the way to do it. 100%. Like, that's definitely, that was for sure.

cognizant choice, we definitely didn't want to do the daughter role very much. Like, that was just something I didn't feel like it was interesting enough for me to act that. Like, instead of doing the daughter role, we did movies, like, let me in. You know what I mean? Like, that's what I was wanting to go do. That's what I was wanting to go try out. And I, it wasn't even the fact that we were like strategically choosing it as a career path. It was more just like, I wasn't having fun auditioning for those roles. Got it. And it wasn't enough for me as an actor to just be like, I'm angry because I'm a teenager. So there was

no interest in like the Disney channel route of like a TV show, that kind of thing or was it just? No, I just you know, I had you know kind of offers audition for that stuff, but I just didn't I didn't audition for it. I just, it's not fun for me. Like I would run the scenes sometimes

of Trevor because we'd get the, like, we'd get the pages in and we'd run it and we both be like no, I just can't make it happen. It's just not not there's anything wrong with it at all. It just wasn't inherently who I was. I'm just closer to this insane, kick-ass child. To these, like, dark, tormented roles. This was, like, something I was more interested.

Well, I'm curious also because, like, you invariably ran into situations, like, hit girl, where you are performing or doing things that are kind of accelerated past where you were in your development. Yeah. So can you cite examples of that of where that got weird or where that got interesting for you in terms of, like, what am I saying here? What am I doing here? I think it was just kind of funny because I remember, like, I think I had to ask Trevor, like,

what the C word exactly meant. And it was, like, basically, like, I, like, there were times when we would do roles, but I'd be, like, he'd have to explain it to me, like, this, in, like, a very safe way. Like, this is what it means. Yeah. But, like, it was never, like, a,

it was never, like, a weird, like, super taboo thing. It was just like, look, this is a role. Yeah. You can't do this at home. And, you know what I mean? That was explained to me from the time I was pretending I was talking to a ghost in Amyville horror,

and my dad was trying to murder me, and we were living in a possessed house. Like, ever since I was a kid, I was like, this isn't real, you know? So by the time I got to kick ass, I was like, yeah, I can say the seaworth on screen and laugh about it and be like, what is happening?

I'm 11. What is happening right now? This is super weird, but it's fun. Did the attention out of that role in terms of like, because I mean, was there any oddness in the kind of attention that you got about it? That's what I found weird. what we all found weirder, is that it was an innocent role in the sense that, like, it wasn't

creepy. Right. And a lot of people tried to twist it and manipulate it in some very weird ways. And that's what we started to understand when we were doing press. We were like, oh, some men and older men are definitely looking at this role, not the way that it was supposed to be looked at. So that was more of us just going like, these are weirdos and kind of realizing that, you know, We saw that weird world early.

Yeah. But it also helped me learn, you know, how to, you know, figure situations out. Well, does it also color, like, you know, I saw it, you know, on Twitter recently, you were outspoken a little bit of Miss Universe and sexualizing young women in that way. I would think it's all connected in a way. I definitely think that it is connected because they were, I mean, I have honestly, in none of my roles I've really sexualized myself ever. Even, even up to date now, like I have not sexualized myself in movies.

And no matter what, even if I don't do it, I can be in a turtleneck and, you know, sweatpants. And there's always going to be that person out there trying to do that. And that's the issue I have with things like that, where when I watch it is, these young women are doing it to sexualize themselves. It's the society that they're in and the viewers and the fact that the people above them are kind of using that to sexualize them. Right. So that, you know, that's definitely something that I wanted to always protect myself from.

And my family predominantly, my mother and my brother, like, they really protected me through that. And that's why they were always on set, always there, especially when I was like 16, 17, 18, like that grouping, when you started to get in, you know, more romantic roles and being with a boy on set and all that stuff. Like, they were very careful with how it was all going down. Do you find that, and we kind of alluded to this earlier, but like, you know, approaching the work differently at 19 versus 9, I would think that's a given that you are. I mean, you obviously have a huge body of work right now. You have technique. you have experience with people like Scorsese, et cetera. Do you find that, like, you're still learning on set,

or do you feel like you've got kind of like, okay, this is where I'm most comfortable. I know this is my workplace, this is what I do. I definitely am most comfortable in life. Like, I'm most comfortable on set. Like, I know where I am, what I'm doing. I know my place. Like, I know everything about what's going on on a set.

Like, it's just my home. But every movie I do, there's not a movie I do where I don't learn something new. Like, literally everything. that I've ever done. I mean, but that's the way I look at it is if I'm doing movies where I'm not learning anything, I don't really see the point in it. And I've done that before where I've done a movie and I'm like, it was cool and it's a cool movie, but like I learned nothing. And seemingly, at least for my own personal self-worth, I feel like I wasted

my time. We've talked about the Scorsese experience, which Needles to say was a huge one in terms of learning some things. Was let me in as well? I mean, let me in, I'm obsessed with. It's huge. Matt Reeves is kind of a genius, knows what he wants. Very brilliant. Was he someone that, that was a good. that you found easy to work with? I mean, he's someone that, he's particular, right? Different.

He was different than anyone I'd ever work with before. He is very particular, and he has a very defined vision. And he's a very soft-spoken man, very soft-spoken man. And he's very intuitive. So to kind of be able to be directed by him, you have to listen and to really understand and comprehend what he's saying, because he'll say 10 things to mean one,

because he's so smart and so articulate. So that movie, yeah, that movie was, a huge learning curve for me. It was very difficult. As we wrap up, I want to hit a couple things on upcoming stuff. So I saw you on the set of Neighbors, what Neighbors 2, Sorority Rising? Is that the official? It was like a lot of fun.

It's a wild. Please, like in the 10 hours I was there, I saw, like, Zach, like, shirtless for six hours. It was insane. It's ridiculous. Was it a refreshing calling back to objectifying people to see him be the one be objectified? There's actually, when you see the trailer and stuff and you see, you see, the movie eventually, you'll see to the extent of which we really do role reverse and the fact that, like, my character, all the female characters are, like, not objectified at all.

Right. And it's mainly the men being putting these awkward positions because Seth and, you know, Nick Stoller and Zach, they all really wanted to show the juxtaposition. They all really wanted to put themselves in that position and be like, see, it's weird. You know what I mean? Like, it shouldn't be. We just have, you know, completely ignored it when it's women doing it. In terms of career markers, I feel like we're about to approach another one.

A Little Mermaid seems like a special one given... I mean, Richard Curtis doing the screenplay alone is really exciting. Very exciting. This is not Disney. This is not a musical, correct? Yep. So what will kind of take on it? What can you say about sort of your approach, Richard's approach to this?

I mean, you know, we can't say much about it, but basically, you know, it is a darker retelling, obviously, in the sense that it is based off the Hans Christian Anderson novel. You know, it's still, I think, going to be a youthful movie, of course. We want to make it, you know, big and exciting, but we want to make it realistic and raw and naturalistic. And we just really want to portray this young woman who really does see a different life out there where she doesn't fit in where she is now and to try and figure out what is beyond the world she's living in.

That is so close yet so far. Is that next? Is that the next big thing? Yeah? So I need to get to reading you the lines really soon. Yes, you do. You got to. I'll send you the script tonight.

I've got to get the air quotes ready. We'll start Skyping and figure it out soon. Lastly, I'm just curious, like, you know, you are active on social media. And I feel like you've been smart in a way that, like, you, I feel like you've defined yourself in terms of celebrity rather than what can happen for a lot of celebrities, which is like... Is it defined by that? Yeah. Do you find that that is a struggle? Is that something you've thought about in terms of like how you chart your own path as opposed to kind of like being put in boxes in terms of by evil media people like myself?

You're so evil. Like you're one of the most. I'm the epitome. You are. Let's not talk about that. Back to you. Back to you. Yeah. I mean, I definitely think that obviously I think society alone, much less the media loves to put you on a box.

And they love to be able to label you as something because it's easy for them. They can put you on that same thing and just keep running that same thing. tag over and over and over and over. And what I try and do is to be who I really am and also be realistic to the generation that I'm growing up in. You know what I mean? Because young women and we're realizing this more and more every day, it's becoming more, you know, accepted than it used to be, is the fact that you can't pinpoint one person as the same, you know, it's not cookie cutter. Right. No one person feels the same way, says the same thing, has the same ideas. But because of the pedestal that I've been put on, I'm trying to take in generationally

what we're going through, especially as young women, and trying to say things and stand for something that means something more than just me going to an event and taking a photo and saying I love my pretty shoes because I offer more to the world than a pretty pair of shoes. You know what I mean? And I think every young woman does. I think every young woman offers more of the world than, you know, their boobs and butt, you know what I mean? And I think that I want to show young women that if they don't know that, and the women that do know that, I want to speak for them. And I want to be able to, you know, have my own voice and not be controlled by the system or the society. So I should look for, like, the Chloe at Grace Morett's,

like, pillowcases, perfume, the whole line of... I mean, you might get a pillowcase here there. But, like, who knows? But that's hand sewn by yourself. It's not, it's not assembly line. How dare? Is it because I'm a woman? No, no. So I like sewing. So you're saying I like to sew. For the record, she's air-quoting. It doesn't really help me at all.

Congratulations on the fifth wave. The conversation continues. I don't know what there is left to talk about, but we'll figure out something next time, right? Yeah. Maybe I'll learn to drive. Maybe I'll figure out. Oh, my God.

Can you please? We should do an interview of me teaching you to drive. That'd be really funny. You're teaching me how to do basic life skills I was like, no, Josh, stop! That's a pedestrian! You don't hit the people in the street! I'm not good at anything.

Red me, stop! This is the only thing I'm mediocre at. Well... I'm kidding. It's good to see you, Chloe. Yeah, it's good to see you too, Josh. We did it. Hello podcast listeners, it's me, Darren Toblerone.

You might have heard me and my brother Aaron Toblerone on the California Supreme Wind Show, the only podcast all about California Supreme Windows, just minutes from the 405, your number one spot to get great deals on Windows, and now also Door. But there are many more podcasts than just my brother's podcast. It's true. Like with special guest Lauren Lapkis, for example. Every week, she plays a different character, and she's the guest of someone else who's playing another character who's the host.

It's complicated, but it's also not. But it's also great, almost like a jigsaw puzzle. Listen to this. Get off your knees, you damn idiot. I love you, Regina. Stand up. I'm going to give you osteoporosis in your knees with my cane. Stand up, you idiot.

I will. Master. Put on this ball gag, you bitch. Take it out. You liked it too much. Thank you. Thank you, mommy. So sit by your favorite window and listen to with special guest Lauren Lapkis on Earwolf.com, iTunes, or the podcast player of your choice. Doinkey windows forever. Goodbye. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.

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