Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence and Academy president Tom Sherak announced the nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards this morning.
Martin Scorsese’s Hugo led the list, with 11 nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Film Editing, Best Achievement in Sound Editing, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, and Best Achievement in Visual Effects.
The 2012 Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, will air on February 26 on ABC.
The full list of nominees can be found here.
Chloë is on the cover of the January 2012 issue of ASOS magazine. The issue devotes 10 pages to a photo spread by Alexander Sainsbury and an article by Karmel Mandrick.
Check out the spread and a behind-the-scenes video of the photoshoot on ASOS’s website.
The issue is available now in the UK.
Chloe Moretz may only be 14 years old, but she’s already had a career that most actresses would die for. From ‘The Amnityville Horror’ to ‘Bolt’ to ‘(500) Days of Summer’ to her breakout performances in ‘Kick-Ass’ and ‘Let Me In,’ Moretz has excelled in a variety of genres — which is far from an accident. “I go from drama to comedy to horror and thrillers,” she told Moviefone at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Manhattan on Sunday morning. “People can see me in every different light and I’m not just one typecast kind of actress.” That chameleon streak came in handy during her audition for ‘Hugo,’ since she was able to trick director Martin Scorsese into thinking she was English.
In ‘Hugo,’ Moretz plays Isabelle, a precocious young orphan who befriends the titular Hugo (Asa Butterfield), a fellow orphan trying to solve a mystery that his father left behind: making a broken automaton work. Isabelle holds the key, literally, to that mystery, as well as one involving her guardian, Papa Georges (Sir Ben Kingsley). Moretz spoke to Moviefone about her performance in ‘Hugo,’ working with “Marty” Scorsese, the People’s Choice Awards, and why Tim Burton fans should be quite excited about the upcoming film, ‘Dark Shadows.’
I read in another interview that you fooled Martin Scorsese in the audition with your British accent. Once you got the part, was there any concern about keeping that accent up for the length of the shoot, and not just the audition?
It was genuinely nerve-wracking thinking that not only do you have to meet Marty, but you have to make him believe you’re British — because that’s all he knows of me. Thinking that I was an actual British actress. When I went in there and did the full accent — it was funny, my accent was almost exact to Asa Butterfield’s. So it was really simple to fool him because it sounded just like Asa. So, he totally didn’t think about it. When I broke out of the accent and went back to American at the end of the audition, he was like, “Oh, what? You’re American!” I was like, “I am American!” He was like, “You fooled me.” I was like, “I did fool you.”
And then you “fooled” him for the rest of the shoot.
Once you get it, it’s easy, but it’s still a lot of hard work. I had to do it every day.
You’ve worked with a number of great directors in your young career: Scorsese, Tim Burton, Marc Webb, Matthew Vaughn. When you’re picking projects, does the director outweigh everything else?
It’s a lot of stuff. I mainly look at the script. If I like the character and I feel like I can do the character, I’ll do it. No matter how big the director is, no matter how amazing the director is, if I don’t like the character — if I can succeed in the character — then I won’t do it. You don’t want to be bad, especially in a movie with a huge director.
That’s a term that certainly describes Scorsese.
I’m really blessed to be able to do a movie with Marty, in my career at all, much less at 13 or 14. It’s really special to be able to do this, because it was something of a learning curve for me. I not only grew as an actor, but I grew in my knowledge of film history. Which I absolutely loved. I had an amazing time learning from Marty about it. I had a really incredible. It was really magical.
What old films did he show you? What was your takeaway from them?
I love Audrey Hepburn, and that was the main thing I based this character off: Audrey. So he showed me ‘Roman Holiday,’ ‘Funny Face,’ and a bunch of her classics. It was really what I based Isabelle off of — that fun girl, kinda naive but sweet and full of wonderment. She has a huge imagination and always wants to go on an adventure. That’s kinda what I tried to do — be that Audrey Hepburn. That person who tries to light up the screen. But without trying. Effortless.
Beyond just the classic films, you also get to share the screen with some all-time acting talents like Ben Kingsley and Helen McCrory. What was the biggest thing you learned from them?
I took away so many things from working with them, especially Sir Ben, because he was very method. He stayed in character almost the whole time. It was really helpful to Asa and I, not only working with Helen and Ben, because they were so method, but because they just knew so much about acting. To watch them perform … not many people get to do that. Not many people get to be in the same scene as Sir Ben and Helen and Frances de la Tour, and all these amazing actors and actresses. It was really a special experience being on a film with such beautiful Oscar winners. It’s something I’ll always remember.
What do you think of method acting? Is that something you can see attempting for a future performance?
Maybe. I think whatever gets you into character. Whatever keeps you in character. Whatever helps you get to that spot to act the best that you can.
I loved when you were on ’30 Rock.’ Do you want to do more comedy like that?
I do some comedy, like ’30 Rock’ and stuff, but I try to do a wide range of acting. I go from drama to comedy to horror and thrillers. Everything. That’s what I try and do — that’s what we try to think about my career, my brother, Trevor, and my mom. We try and think about that. For instance when I did ‘Hugo,’ it was: What should I do next? After ‘Hugo,’ I went to do ‘Dark Shadows,’ which is totally two bipolar things, which I love. People can see me in every different light and I’m not just one typecast kind of actress.
You sound excited about ‘Dark Shadows.’
Tim Burton is my dream director to work with.
What Tim Burton movies do you love?
‘Beetlejuice,’ ‘Edward Scissorhands,’ ‘Sleepy Hollow,’ ‘A Nightmare Before Christmas.’ I love Tim Burton. I think he’s got one of the most brilliant minds of any director out there, along with Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino and Darren Aronfosky. It’s always been a dream to work with him. When he called us up and he wanted me to do the movie with him, I was absolutely, hands-down, “Of course I’ll do the movie with you Tim Burton! You didn’t even have to ask!” We had a really beautiful time doing that movie. It’s really interesting, it’s a very funny movie. I can’t really say anything about it, but it’s Tim Burton’s fine line. He straddles that camp and drama, perfectly. He goes back to his roots. He goes back to ‘Beetlejuice’ and ‘Edward Scissorhands.’ What he’s good at. What he’s really good at.
I’m sure that will please Tim Burton fans.
They’ll be really happy. It’s back to his roots, for sure.
You mention those Burton films — what were the Scorsese films you were familiar with?
‘Aviator,’ ‘Gangs of New York,’ ‘Raging Bull.’ I had only seen ‘Aviator’ when I was doing the film, but afterwards I have seen more.
I guess the rest of them might be a little too adult-themed. Is there one you haven’t seen that you’re looking forward to watching one day?
Definitely. I’m really looking forward to seeing ‘Taxi Driver’ one day. That’s one.
I loved that photo shoot you did in Harper’s.
That was a fun shoot. I had a really good time doing that. They had a whole homage to Marty.
You’re one of the five finalists for the Favorite Movie Star Under 25 People’s Choice Award. It’s you and Emma Watson, Rupert Grint…
It’s like Tom Felton, Daniel Radcliffe. It’s Harry Potter against me. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna lose to Harry Potter, but that’s OK. I don’t mind. At least I got nominated.
Her middle name, Grace, is oddly fitting: While she doesn’t exactly come across as delicate—at least, not to anyone who’s seen her in either Kick-Ass or Let Me In, the 2010 films in which Chloë Grace Moretz played, respectively, a preteen bruiser and a bloodthirsty mini-vamp—there’s a certain balletic quality to her movements on screen.
In person, she is an unusual mixture of scrappiness and elegance as well. Dressed in a slim gray cable-knit sweater, dark skinny jeans, and a pair of black ankle boots, Chloë looks convincingly sleek; her long blonde hair is freshly brushed, and her fingernails are polished. But when she speaks, it’s with an almost boyishly low voice, and she has a delightfully sarcastic sense of humor. Doubtless, this dichotomy is precisely what her directors—and her audiences—find so compelling.
“I really liked her in (500) Days of Summer,” says Drew Barrymore, who recently cast Chloë as a lovelorn street tough in a ten-minute short that doubled as the video for the Best Coast song “Our Deal.” “She was sage without being precocious— that’s very rare at her age. And then, when I saw her in Kick-Ass, I just went crazy. I live for cool girls, and Chloë is one of the most rock ‘n’ roll young ladies I’ve ever seen.”
Like Drew, Chloë started acting at a very early age: She was only six when she booked her role in the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror, having followed a big brother (she has four of them) into the industry. “When Trevor was fifteen and I was five,” the Atlanta-born actress recalls, “he’d be practicing his monologues, and I just started memorizing them too. I guess something clicked.” Shortly thereafter, her family relocated from New York City to Los Angeles. Chloë has been working steadily ever since, but it’s only been within the last couple of years that she’s emerged as a star: She was still anonymous enough that when she auditioned for this month’s Hugo—a Paris-set fantasy in which she speaks with an English accent—the director, Martin Scorsese, mistook her for a native Brit.
“I play a book-smart 1930s girl,” Chloë explains, “who meets a boy, played by Asa Butterfield, and then they go on this crazy adventure and find out all of these amazing things about their lives.” Shot in 3-D, this big-screen adaptation of a best-selling novel (The Invention of Hugo Cabret) is far more family-friendly than the films that Chloë is best known for. But she hasn’t turned away from the dark side completely. Next May, she’ll appear alongside Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer in Tim Burton’s gothic vampire flick Dark Shadows as a “fun-loving hippie with a secret.” And Hick, which premiered in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, is, as she cheerfully says, “so twisted!”
Much has been made of Chloë’s ability—and willingness—to play violent, foulmouthed, or imperiled characters. There was a good deal of hand-wringing about her portrayal of Hit-Girl even before Kick-Ass came out. But Chloë, who’s quite sunny in real life, doesn’t see what all the fuss is about. “I mean, it’s acting,” she says, an unspoken “duh” implicit in her earnest tone. “I like these roles because they’re not me. That’s what’s fun about it. If I played another version of Chloë all the time, it would be boring.” And there’s another potential benefit to the choices she’s made: Frequent work in so-called “adult” fare often makes it easier for a young actress to transition into professional adulthood, which is a priority for Chloë: “I’d love to be in this industry for the rest of my life—to write, direct, and produce my own movies,” she says. “I’m an overachiever, you know? I’m always trying to find a way to do more.”
For now, Chloë’s multitasking as a full-time high school student (she’s in her freshman year) and as a part-time fashion icon: She, along with colleagues Hailee Steinfeld and Elle Fanning, has become an in-demand muse for designers and stylists, popping up on edgy magazine covers and walking the red carpet in labels like Chanel, Dior, and Stella McCartney. She was even invited to sit front row at Calvin Klein Collection’s spring 2012 show, a prospect she found, as she puts it, “superexciting. I love fashion! To me, it’s another way to express myself.” But, she insists, her preference is for quirkier looks that “mix high fashion with high-street fashion. Like, I’ll put an Alexander McQueen jacket with a nice Topshop T-shirt. That’s more approachable than, ‘Here comes Chloë in her runway look.’”
There’s something touching about Chloë, who—as her highlight reel proves—can be quite tough when she wants to, despite being concerned about approachability. But it’s clear that she has no interest in letting her success sway her from being the person she intends to be. As she says, when discussing her well-known costars, “Nobody really sits you down and gives you advice, but I’ve seen people who are so amazing and big but who are also so humble and normal. And I think, If they’re like that, I can be like that too.” We don’t doubt that she’ll manage it, gracefully.
Source: Teen Vogue
Don’t forget to pick up the December 2011/January 2012 issue of Teen Vogue with Chloë on the cover!
