Chloe Grace Moretz says she 'became a recluse' after a meme about her body went viral

Chloë Grace Moretz is speaking up about how hurtful comments and memes mocking her appearance negatively affected her self-esteem.

The 25-year-old actor, who has been in the public eye since she landed a breakout role in “Kick-Ass” at age 12, opened up to Hunger Magazine about becoming distant when her body was “used as a joke” on social media.

In an interview published on Sept. 20, Moretz told the publication that she suddenly became aware of her growing fame and her appearance when she became an adult.

“And it hit me like a ton of bricks,” she recalled. “I was 18 and doing a red carpet. I walked off of it and I felt so much self- loathing and was really confused about the experience that just went down. I was really unwell after that. There was this complete jarring shift in my consciousness, I questioned who I was.”

She also wondered why she was an actor. To help answer her questions, she started going to therapy.

Moretz explained., “I had to work through that. For a long time I was able to be the Chloë that people see and the Chloë that I am in private. Then those two worlds collided and I felt really raw and vulnerable and open.”

Around the same time, the “If I Stay” star started receiving cruel messages about her physical appearance.

“I’ve actually never really talked about this, but there was one meme that really affected me, of me walking into a hotel with a pizza box in my hand,” she shared. “And this photo got manipulated into a character from ‘Family Guy’ with the long legs and the short torso, and it was one of the most widespread memes at the time.”

She continued, “Everyone was making fun of my body and I brought it up with someone and they were like, ‘Oh, shut the f— up, it’s funny.’ And I just remember sitting there and thinking, my body is being used as a joke and it’s something that I can’t change about who I am, and it is being posted all over Instagram.”

Now, Moretz is still affected by the memes and said the jokes are difficult for her to ignore because they made her feel insecure.

The actor said, “After that, I was kind of sad. It took a layer of something that I used to enjoy, which was getting dressed up and going to a carpet and taking a photo, and made me super self-conscious.”

Moretz added, “ And I think that body dysmorphia — which we all deal with in this world — is extrapolated by the issues of social media. It’s a headf—.”

She revealed that after the experience she retreated from the public eye and avoided paparazzi.

“I basically became a recluse,” she said. “But at the same time it made me severely anxious when I was photographed. My heart rate would rise and I would hyperventilate.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Moretz had a break in her schedule. She would put on her hat, mask and hoodie and not worry about the paparazzi capturing an unflattering picture.

“For the first time, I didn’t have to think about what I was doing next month or what I was going to do in a week,” she shared. “I know that’s obviously a very privileged thing to say, and I’m very aware of that. But for me it was a time of introspection.”

Her father died due to a non-COVID-related issue during the pandemic. She called that point in her life “a really transformative time period.”

Following his death, she landed the leading role in the upcoming Amazon Prime sci-fi series “The Peripheral.” She traveled across the pond to London and focused on the show.

“And I think that working again came at the perfect time in a lot of ways,” she said.

“The Peripheral” will be her biggest television role so far in her career.

Parts of the series were also filmed in North Carolina, where her father was born and raised.

She said she felt a “release” while shooting near his hometown.

“My dad and I had a very tumultuous relationship, so by the time that release happened, it was just really meaningful,” she said. “To say that these past two years have been transformative is an understatement, to say the least. I’m a very different girl than I was. I feel like a woman now.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com