Advertisement
New Zealand markets closed
  • NZX 50

    12,105.29
    +94.63 (+0.79%)
     
  • NZD/USD

    0.5974
    -0.0002 (-0.03%)
     
  • NZD/EUR

    0.5539
    +0.0006 (+0.10%)
     
  • ALL ORDS

    8,153.70
    +80.10 (+0.99%)
     
  • ASX 200

    7,896.90
    +77.30 (+0.99%)
     
  • OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    18,254.69
    -26.15 (-0.14%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Dow Jones

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     
  • NZD/JPY

    90.3510
    -0.0420 (-0.05%)
     

Chloë Grace Moretz Recalls 'Power Struggle' with Older Men Who Would 'Infantilize' Her in Hollywood

Chloe Grace Moretz attends the Premiere Of Focus Features' "Greta" at ArcLight Hollywood on February 26, 2019 in Hollywood, California.
Chloe Grace Moretz attends the Premiere Of Focus Features' "Greta" at ArcLight Hollywood on February 26, 2019 in Hollywood, California.

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage Chloë Grace Moretz

Chloë Grace Moretz says she was not taken seriously by some of her peers on movie sets as a teenager — even when she was the star of the film.

During Moretz's appearance on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast Tuesday, the 25-year-old actress told host Josh Smith that she was at times "shut down" by older men she worked with when she tried to express her ideas while growing up.

The Suspiria actress recalled "working ever day, in every scene" in her first leading role when she was 14 in 2013's Carrie. "A big part of being the lead in a show or a movie is you kind of set the tone for the set," she shared.

ADVERTISEMENT

Moretz said it was "always really interesting to see who would be really unhappy with a young woman" expressing opinions on sets as she grew through her teen years.

RELATED: Chloë Grace Moretz Says Martin Scorsese Gave Her '25, 30' Movies to Watch Before They Made Hugo

Chloë Grace Moretz attends the Louis Vuitton's 2023 Cruise Show on May 12, 2022 in San Diego, California.
Chloë Grace Moretz attends the Louis Vuitton's 2023 Cruise Show on May 12, 2022 in San Diego, California.

Emma McIntyre/Getty Chloë Grace Moretz

"At that point, I had already worked for so many years, almost 10 years at that point, and as I continued through having more important roles on set as I grew up, it was always very interesting to see the pushback that I would get from a lot of people," she told Smith.

"The majority of it was older men, for sure, who would infantilize me. If I had real things to bring to the table, a lot of the time it would get shot down," Moretz added.

While she noted that "there were a lot of moments" where she did receive equal treatment, Moretz said there was frequently a "really wild power struggle and power dynamic of a young girl who had worked for already [over a decade] and was the lead of the movies but was still a kid in every sense of the word."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

"Having to even advocate to an older man on behalf of your 14, 15, 16-year-old self is a really, really crazy kind of mind f---," Moretz told Smith during the podcast appearance. "It kind of taught me how to propose questions in a way to make the ideas their ideas."

"I always had to be very sweet, and very kind of backfoot in the way I'd propose things, but strong, and then again as I grew up it kind of got to that f— it time," she added. "At this point I feel like I know a set and I know filmmaking like the back of my hand."

Chloë Grace Moretz
Chloë Grace Moretz

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

In a September interview with Hunger Magazine, Moretz described suddenly growing into fame after she broke out with her 2010 breakout film Kick-Ass as "kind of a distant memory, in the sense that I was a kid and 90 per cent of the time no one would really bother me."

RELATED: Chloë Grace Moretz Says Attention at 12 After Breakout Kick-Ass Role 'Was Really Chaotic'

"But after Kick-Ass, the first time I experienced paparazzi, it was 10 to 15 adult guys surrounding a 12-year-old girl," Moretz told the outlet, remembering a specific interaction with photographers. "They pushed my mom and she ended up falling into traffic – she didn't get hurt, but the situation was really chaotic."

"It's an assault on all the senses, with screaming and flashes," she added. "I got into the car afterwards and I just burst into tears. I think that's my marker of before and after."