Celebrities are particularly susceptible to body-shaming. Being in the public eye so much, their physiques are constantly watched and scrutinized by the public eye. Earlier in her career, Chloe Grace Moretz once experienced a more personal form of body-shaming. But it wasn’t just anyone who made the actor feel negatively towards her body, it was her own co-star.
Chloe Grace Moretz used her insecurities for strength
Moretz has always championed and advocated the importance of body positivity. The Kick-Ass actor has often spoken about her own insecurities regarding her own body in the past, and what helped her overcome them.
“When I was 16, I wanted a boob job,” Moretz said in an interview with Elle. “I wanted the fat pad under my chin to be removed. I wanted a butt reduction, or whatever. And my mom said, ‘Absolutely not, you’re not allowed to have plastic surgery.’ And because of that, I found a lot of power within my insecurities. They’re what make me who I am now.”
Knowing what it feels like to once lack confidence in her body, Moretz has always tried to promote a positive self-image to her fans on her platforms. She seeks to show herself off to her followers and admirers when she’s at her most natural.
“I try to break barriers,” she continued. “I try not to post Instagrams where I facetune my face and I wear a ton of makeup….And I want to break it down for young women so they understand that you’re not just ‘born’ like this.”
Chloe Grace Moretz was once body shamed by a co-star for being too big
Moretz has experienced the negativity that comes with body-shaming personally and firsthand from one of her own contemporaries. In an interview with Variety, the Tom & Jerry star discussed an unflattering remark someone made about her physique.
“This guy that was my love interest was like, ‘I’d never date you in a real-life,’ and I was like, ‘What?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, you’re too big for me’ — as in my size,” Moretz said. “It was one of the only actors that ever made me cry on set.”
What made the situation even more difficult for Moretz was having to work with the unidentified co-star the next day.
“I went bawling to my brother and he was like, ‘What happened?’ And I was like, ‘He told me I was too big.’ And my brother was like, ‘What just happened?’ My brother was so angry,” Moretz said. “I had to pick it up and go back on set and pretend he was a love interest, and it was really hard…It just makes you realize that there are some really bad people out there and for some reason, he felt the need to say that to me.”
At such a young age, Moretz shared that the situation taught her something important about certain people.
“You have to kind of forgive and not forget really, but it was just like wow. It was jarring. I look back on it and I was 15, which is really, really dark,” she confided.
Chloe Grace Moretz had another male co-star lie about her to boost his own reputation
The body-shaming incident wasn’t the only time she experienced a type of sexism in the industry. Another male co-star executed a more subtle form of attack on the Carrie star by making up stories about her to a filmmaker.
“I’ve had a younger male lead ostracize me and bring up fake issues just to try and put me in my place, and make things up to the director…things that are crazy, things that I would never do, unprofessional things that would make no sense,” she recalled. “I’ve had an actor do that to me. It’s crazy. They have this inferiority issue, and I’m like, ‘You are completely equal to me, you are no different than me. I just happen to be the lead in this movie, and I don’t know why just because you are kind of the smaller character that you’re pushing me into a corner to try and put me down. Little snips that just put you down.”
However, despite those experiences, at the time Moretz still maintained a positive outlook on the entertainment industry.
“I’ve seen a massive shift just in terms of how many female filmmakers have been working recently,” Moretz explained. “We’re making big steps, but it’s a long way. We’re nowhere near the top.”
