Chloe Grace Moretz has reflected on how a meme about her body in Family Guy negatively impacted her life.
The 25-year-old actor – who has starred in films including 500 Days of Summer and Kick-Ass – opened up about how seeing memes of herself online affected her body image.
Moretz spoke to Hunger about one particular picture that had been taken of her, in which she is entering a hotel after having gotten pizza.
The photo was turned into a scene in the hit Fox sitcom Family Guy.
In a season 10 episode titled “Amish Guy”, a character (based on the photo of Moretz) is introduced.
It is a fictional character named Legs Go All The Way Up Griffin, who is the great aunt of the main character Peter Griffin. The character, voiced by Seth McFarlane, has exaggerated proportions, such as very long legs and a short torso.
The scene quickly made its way onto the internet, where it spread as a meme.
Moretz told the publication that she was uncomfortable with her body becoming the subject of a joke.
“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,” she said, “It was something so benign as walking into a hotel with leftovers.”
The actor said that many people dismissed her concerns about the meme, defending the joke as “funny”.
She said: “I brought it up with someone and they were like, ‘Oh, shut the f** up, it’s funny.’”
Moretz is due to star in the thriller series The Peripheral, which is due for release on 21 October on Amazon Prime.