??Chloë Grace Moretz?? Says Divorce ‘Made Me Harder On Myself’

??Chloë Grace Moretz has been acting since she first appeared in a 2001 episode of the Guardian and has starred in horror films like The Amityville Horror (2005) and Carrie (2013), as well as science fiction and some fairly gritty urban action films. It’s safe to say Ms. Moretz has seen her fair share of troubling drama off screen as well and, as she shared in a recent Marie Claire interview, the rising actress hasn’t escaped all of that completely unscathed. Chloë has scars, many of which are from emotional and psychological wounds that may never really heal. Still, The 5th Wave actress moves forward in the spirit of a true warrior.

??Chloë Grace Moretz talks about the divorce that harmed her more than anyone realizes

The 5th Wave‘s Moretz says that her parents divorced when she was very young and that it was something she never really overcame. She says the event, which Chloë describes as being “as heavy as you can get to dismantle a family,” hardened her at a young age. Chloë blames her father for the divorce, saying that he “just left” her mother, four brothers, and herself to fend for themselves.

“When you’re betrayed by someone that is a bloodline, you start to beware trusting people and to protect yourself at all costs,” Moretz says. “For a long time, I did that too much. I wasn’t letting people in.”

The 5th Wave‘s ??Chloë Grace Moretz blames online bullies for contributing to her own self doubt

That divorce left Ms. Moretz with trust issues and feelings of self doubt, and if that wasn’t bad enough, body shaming from internet trolls only made her feel that much worse. By the time she was 16 and cast as the new Carrie White in the 2013 reboot of the Stephen King classic, Chloë identified with the ostracized teenager only too well.

“I felt fat; I felt not pretty,” says Ms. Moretz. “I felt like I didn’t really know who I was. I was so confused; I was scared. I had bad acne. I felt incredibly insecure.”

The Let Me In actress says none of that matters now, because, after two years, she’s overcome those anxieties. She knows who she is and who she wants to be, so Chloë no longer cares what others think of her.

While the actress, who was just chosen to star as the title character in Disney’s live action re-imagining of The Little Mermaid, is feeling more secure with herself these days, she is still having trouble opening up to others. Clinging to those trust issues instilled in her as a result of her parents’ divorce, Chloë shies away from serious relationships.

Further, Chloë says she’s not open to dating older men, because they’re too serious. She also adds that she’ll date, as long as the guys she meets aren’t expecting anything long term. She says she needs more time to consider any kind of deeper commitment, maybe not until she’s 23.

This, of course, goes along with the philosophy her mother has tried to pass on to her and something with which she has tried to conduct herself, professionally, explains Ms. Moretz, as she describes trying to be a strong woman in Hollywood. Chloë adds that she doesn’t just try to be strong in her business dealings, but she also chooses strong female characters to portray on screen.

That strength of personality with which Chloë tries to infuse her movie characters can be no more perfectly expressed than in The Little Mermaid‘s Ariel. She says the revamped Disney character is going to be her own woman with her own unique look, unapologetically referring to the hoopla surrounding the news that she would not be dying her hair red for the film.

“That got so blown out of proportion,” laughs Moretz. “We don’t have a director attached to the project yet, so once that happens, we’re going to get creative and all powwow and create our version of The Little Mermaid and what we want it to be.”

??Chloë Grace Moretz promises pictures of The Little Mermaid‘s new look as soon as they are available.

[Featured image by Craig Barritt /Getty Images]