Chloë Grace Moretz has decided that she’d rather not play a mermaid who makes a bargain to become human and then struggles with buyer’s remorse. The Playlist is reporting that Moretz has bowed out of Universal’s adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, to which she had been attached since late last year.
And not only has Moretz figured that maybe it’s not better down where it’s wetter, she has put her other planned film roles on hold as well. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Moretz explains, “I pulled the plug on all my movies because I want to reassess who I am and find myself within my roles again. I’m realizing that I can slow down,” a realization that may well have followed a satisfying meeting with her financial advisor.
“Why not sit back, slow down, realize I’m 19 and go, ‘Hey, let’s make stuff that really, really hits hard with who I am and helps me figure out what it means to be a 19-year-old actor who is just doing her thing?’,” Moretz said in an interview with E!. Presumably, playing a half-fish princess with zero personal agency does not fit her criteria of a hard-hitting project. Or it’s possible that she considered the insanity of being involved with the live-action version of The Little Mermaid that isn’t being produced by Disney or written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
And although she’s not rushing into new film projects any time soon, Moretz will be keeping busy. The actress is planning on producing, developing TV projects, and campaigning for Hillary Clinton—that latter activity obviously requiring some rushing between now and November.