CURIOSITYChloë Grace Moretz Is Playing The Little Mermaid and Cannot Actually Swim2 min read

The Role She Couldn’t Say No To

Chloë Grace Moretz sat down on Jimmy Kimmel Live last week, and the grin on her face said everything before she opened her mouth. She’s been cast as the lead in Universal’s live-action The Little Mermaid — and she’s still processing it.

“It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever booked,” she told Kimmel, which tracks. This is the kind of role that rewires a career. Big shoes to fill. Big fins, technically.

Not Your Childhood Version

Before anyone pictures a red wig and clamshells: this isn’t the Disney film. Universal’s version pulls from Hans Christian Andersen’s original story — the one where things go considerably darker than a happy ending on a beach. Moretz stays blonde. The tone stays grim.

That’s a sharp creative swing, and a brave one. Most audiences carry a deep, warm nostalgia for the 1989 animated film. “We all kind of grew up with The Little Mermaid,” Moretz said on air, acknowledging the weight of that directly.