Chloë Grace Moretz opens up about career struggles and how she learned it's 'okay to fight'

Frazer Harrison/Getty

At 19 years old, actress Chloë Grace Moretz has already learned a lot about what it means to be a role model in Hollywood, and how hard you have to fight for what you want.

She says it all goes back to her first leading role, in 2013’s “Carrie” remake.

“I really realized, oh, there’s a lot of stuff going on here for women that I need to clue in on and understand it,” she told Business Insider while doing press for her new movie “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” (which opens on Friday).

On the set of “Carrie,” Moretz said, she felt she had to speak up for the first time in her career, especially because she was in a movie about a girl having her period for the first time while she was also being controlled by male studio heads.

She said she learned from the experience that it's “okay to fight for something you believe in.”

“Don’t just be argumentative, don’t be loud for no reason, but don’t apologize for fighting,” she said.

It’s something she talked over with her biggest mentor in the business, Oscar winner Julianne Moore, who also played Moretz’s mother in “Carrie.”

Frazer Harrison/Getty“She’s someone I’ve always looked up to and who has really helped me out and given me some of the strongest advice I’ve had in my career,” Moretz said.

The two have discussed how often female celebrities who speak out are hit with backlash for doing so.

This happened recently to Moretz when her tweets speaking out against a nude selfie Kim Kardashian posted turned into a headline-grabbing feud between the two.

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/706986603810394112
@KimKardashian I truly hope you realize how important setting goals are for young women, teaching them we have so much more to offer than-

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/707082941386461185
let's all welcome @ChloeGMoretz to twitter, since no one knows who she is. your nylon cover is cute boo

“We are all being highly misconstrued by media,” Moretz said when Business Insider asked about her biggest takeaway from her talks with Moore. “It’s like it's not okay to have an opinion anymore and you have to change that, unless you are saying everything on queue with what CNN or TMZ or any of these quote-unquote news outlets are reporting, then you're not allowed to have an opinion.”

Moretz said she’s also had “very, very forward conversations” with Jessica Chastain on this subject.

But it seems the dustup with Kardashian hasn’t made her any less focused. Along with starring in the female-focused “Neighbors 2,” Moretz said she’s continuing to look for progressive projects that are interesting for women.

“It’s more of a fight to find the cool scripts or finding someone who is willing to write the cool scripts or find the female directors that studios will approve,” Moretz said. “Those are still few and far between.”

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