The M Interview: Chloe Grace Moretz tackles comedy
Comedy is hard work for the young actress, who faces off Seth Rogen, Rose Bryne and Zac Efron in Bad Neighbours 2
After her meteoric rise in dark movies like Kick-Ass, Let Me In and Carrie, child star Chloe Grace Moretz is trying her hand at much lighter stuff with Bad Neighbours 2.
She plays college freshman Shelby who is horrified to learn that sororities on campus are not allowed to have parties, unlike fraternities.
Stung by the unfairness of the system, she teams up with her gal pals and moves off-campus to set up her own sorority where girls can party.
The 19-year-old US actress told M: "In this movie, there's an underlying story.
"It deals with some really strong issues on sexism in America, especially in our collegiate system, and I think we do it under the guise of levity."
Tackling comedy was a different experience for her. She spent six hours improvising a scene, "compared to a drama, where it's three big, emotional crying moments and I'm done".
Moretz recalled: "Every take, I'm remembering three more new lines, then having to make up more improvisations.
"And I was surrounded by comedians who were on their toes. If I didn't have the energy that they had, then we're all going to fall flat. It's a long, long process in comedy, which is gruelling, but it was great."
In real life, she has her own sisterhood of sorts although it's not exclusively female.
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"I have a close-knit group of friends," said Moretz.
"It's a random woven fabric of men and women, of brothers and friends and people whom I've worked with."
She comes from a devout Christian background, but wants to make the point that morals do not have to affect creativity, even with a raunchy comedy like Bad Neighbours 2 and her havoc-wreaking character.
"I did Kick-Ass at 11 years old and I said the C-word. It didn't affect me and my mum is very Christian," she said.
"Creativity can be expressed in multitudes of ways and doesn't mean that you're going to have to go repent for it.
"I can still have a strong moral compass and I am not hurting anyone. I'm still a good person. It's just some people are more rowdy than others and it's okay to show that side of life."
Moretz would not talk about her relationship with 17-year-old Brooklyn Beckham, son of former football star David Beckham and fashion designer Victoria Beckham, but she said "dating as a celebrity is one of the strangest things in the world".
She would not elaborate and said that is was nobody's business.
"When two celebrities date each other, it definitely makes things a lot crazier.
"There're a lot more pictures, a lot more of all that stuff.
"I just try and live my life day by day." - Meher Tatna
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