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

One Small Problem

Here’s where it gets good. Moretz will be wearing a tail for the role. She’ll be in water, playing a creature defined entirely by her aquatic grace. So Kimmel asked the obvious question: is she actually a strong swimmer?

“I’m not a strong swimmer,” she said, dry as sand.

“I have to learn how to swim in a tail.”

Kimmel let that land for a beat. The audience laughed. Moretz laughed. Somewhere, a stunt coordinator did not laugh.

She shrugged it off with the kind of easy confidence that only reads as charming when you’re twenty-something and fearless. “Maybe that’s the new story,” she offered. “The mermaid who learns to swim.” At this point, that might actually be the most honest pitch for the whole film.