Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl

Kick-Ass made a decent $96 million worldwide, but when it comes to the caliber of the film it deserves so much more. Lucky for all of you folks who missed it in the theaters, Kick-Ass is set to hit DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, August 3rd. In honor of the release, star Chloe Moretz took some time to chat about the film that transformed her from an up and coming actress into one of the industry’s most sought after young stars.

She plays Mindy Macready, also known as Hit Girl. Her father, Damon, or Big Daddy, raised her to be the ruthless crime fighter she is today. Hit Girl and Big Daddy are as real as anything when it comes to superheroes sans powers, but Kick-Ass (Aaron Johnson) is another story and when both he and the father daughter duo end up with a common enemy, they’ve got to kick some ass together.

Even as her career becomes a whirlwind of success and more and more films, Moretz still had tons to share about her experience on this set. But, of course, now that major offers are coming her way, we had to talk about her upcoming projects. Check out what Moretz had to say about her fond Kick-Ass memories and to get a taste of what she’ll have to offer in the coming years.

Kick-Ass certainly wasn’t your first film, but it is the one that made you a household name. How’d working on this compare to everything you’d done before?

It was really amazing. Working on the set was so great and there were so many awesome people on it and the director, Matthew Vaughn, was truly amazing and Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse and really everyone I worked with. I’m very blessed to have been able to work with such a great crew.

Was it nerve-wracking at all working with such a big star like Nicolas Cage and on a film that you were such a pivotal part of?

Of course you’re going to go in and go, ‘Gosh, I got to meet Nicholas Cage. It’s totally crazy!’ But once you meet him he’s seriously one of the nicest guys you’ll ever talk to and really he’s just genuinely nice and if he tells you he thinks you’re cool, he did it and he thinks that.

Did you have any concerns when you first looked at the script? And what about your family? What’d you think about what the film would require you to do?

Well, my mom reads every script before me, so she read it first and she was like, ‘This is the one we’ve been looking for, it’s a really amazing character and I think you can do a great job with it.’ Me and my brother Trevor, my acting coach, he read it with me and we were like it’s a great opportunity and I think it’s a really great character.

What’s your favorite part about Hit Girl?

That she’s such a strong girl. She knows what she wants and she goes and gets it. She really doesn’t take no for an answer.

How was it working with all the weaponry? Was any of it real? Did you ever get hurt?

No, I never got hurt. They were very very protective of me. You get bruises here and there, but I trained for about six months and it was really really fun.

Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl

What kind of training did you have to do?

I did a lot of cardio and exercise and I did a lot of flexibility training and I did martial arts and I did gymnastics and ballet and I worked with gun handling and weaponry and a lot of different stuff.

Was there a scene that was particularly difficult to pull off?

All of them were! They were all really hard. I mean, there was never really one scene that wasn’t hard, emotionally as an actor and physically.

How was it working with Nicolas Cage? A key part of your character is your relationship with him. Did you guys get to have any rehearsal time or just time to get to know each other before filming?

He’s really an amazing guy and working with him was truly a privilege and really I met him and we kind of clicked and we just let everything go.

Do you have any hopes for the sequel?

Yeah, I would really love to portray Hit Girl in a different light, but who knows about the sequel? I’m hoping that it goes.

It’s still not set in stone yet?

Nope, not for me.

Chloe Moretz in Let Me In

Now after Kick-Ass it seems like you’re attracting more violent roles. You’ve got Let Me In, The Rut and Hick; how to do feel about somewhat getting a stereotype?

Well, Let Me In is not really violent. She’s a vampire, but it’s totally different. It’s more of an emotional thing than anything and she’s not proud of who she is and what she does. With Hick she’s not at all, she’s just a little girl and with The Rut, she’s just a little girl too, but she’s having to survive in the woods. My roles definitely aren’t violent per se, but my most violent role would have to be Hit Girl, but it was for a reason; she was brainwashed.

So maybe it’s more of a tough girl persona.

Yeah, exactly! They’re tougher girls.

With all of the stuff you have coming up, is there anything you’re particularly excited about?

Right now I’m shooting a film called The Invention of Hugo Cabret and it’s a really fun role because it’s a sweeter little girl and she’s worked on an adventure and she’s really bookish. It’s a great role.

That has a fantastic cast too! How’s it working with everyone on that?

It’s truly amazing. Sir Ben Kingsley is phenomenal. He’s a legend and Marty [Scorsese] is such an amazing [director] and Sacha Baron Cohen and Sir Christopher Lee and really working with everyone on that set is truly amazing. And Asa Butterfield he’s really an amazing actor. He’s like a little brother.

Did you see The Boy in the Striped Pajamas? He’s unbelievable in it.

He is. It’s one of my favorite films of all time. He was truly amazing in it.

You’ve really been working with some fantastic seasoned actors. Does anyone every try and give you advice in terms of your career?

They don’t sit down and tell you everything, but you just watch them and when you watch them, that’s when you learn stuff; how they get into the character for the scene and what they do and how they’re method and stuff. You just kind of watch them and you learn stuff automatically.

So what comes after Hugo Cabret? You’ve got a massive list of things and I just keep hearing about more piling on.

Yeah! I have The Invention of Hugo Cabret and I have The Rut with Karyn Kusama and I have Hick with Derick Martini and at the moment we’re actually starting up our production company and we’ve already bought a couple of properties, so we’re going to start making our own films soon.

Trevor Duke and Chloe Moretz

And when you say we?

Me, my mother and my brother.

That’s awesome! Do you have anything in mind for a first production?

Well, we can’t really say, but we have just bought our first property called The Heroines, which is a really amazing amazing book.

What’s the company called?

It’s called Treetop Productions.

So with this company are you thinking of producing or maybe writing and directing?

Yeah, with our production company we’re going to be producing and actually, what I want to aspire to do one day is have my mom produce it, my brother direct it and my other brother write it and me act in it. That’s what I would love to happen.

That’d be great. You guys sound like such a close family.

Thank you! Yeah, we’re very tight knit.

Do you attribute a lot of your success to their support?

Of course. Without them, where would I be? My brother’s my acting coach and we go over every single role together and without him and my mom I don’t know where I’d be.

Back to a film you’re supposedly attached to, what’s going on with Old St. Louis with Vince Vaughn?

We have the offer to the film, we’re trying to work out the dates, but who knows?

What about the Wimpy Kid sequel? That one’s moving along pretty fast. Will you be back?

Um, I don’t think so for Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2. So, no. It’d be cool, but I wish I could have.

Do you ever have free time? What about at Comic-Con? Did you ever get to look around or was it all business?

Well, during Comic-Con there wasn’t a lot of time, but I relax everyday. Like right now I’m just chilling out on the couch. I hang out a lot. I see my friends all the time when I’m in LA, I hang out  with my family and I have school and everything, so I’m just a normal 13-year-old girl.

And a lot of free time for Twitter too!

[Laughs] Yeah, I try and Twitter whenever I can.

I see you’re getting some haters on it though. How do you manage the unnecessary bad that comes with all of this fame?

Yeah. Well, I have four brothers, so they always kick in.

By Perri Nemiroff

By Perri Nemiroff

Film producer and director best known for her work in movies such as FaceTime, Trevor, and The Professor. She has worked as an online movie blogger and reporter for sites such as CinemaBlend.com, ComingSoon.net, Shockya, and MTV's Movies Blog.

6 thoughts on “Interview: Kick-Ass' Chloe Moretz”
  1. hahahahahahahaha she said Asa is like a little brother to her! dont u pick on ur little brother? hahahahaha Asa is like an older bro to me and he called me babe on fb message :) super happy :)

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