Chloë Grace Moretz has acted in over 60 projects over the course of her career, and she’s just 22 years old. Her latest pic, “Greta,” teams her up with Isabelle Huppert. Set in New York, the suspense thriller sees the pair becoming entwined in an unhealthy relationship with frightening consequences, but there’s more to the story: Moretz’s character is new to the city and has just lost her mother, and Huppert is a widow with a dark and disturbing past. 

We talked to Moretz about her experience making “Greta” alongside Huppert, inequality in Hollywood, and the significance of her starring role in Desiree Akhavan’s “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” a 2018 drama about a teen who is sent to gay conversion camp.

“Greta” opens today, March 1.

This interview has been edited and condensed. 

W&H: You’ve talked a lot about inequality in Hollywood since the dawn of #MeToo, particularly in light of  having worked with Louis C.K. in “I Love You, Daddy.” Have you seen any changes unfold in the past year?

CGM: I was thinking about this earlier today. Someone else asked me an interesting question about the wake of everything that has changed since #MeToo, and what hasn’t caught up yet. For me, what stands out is a bit of a cop-out. They cast a lot of female leads now, but the stories are still being told from the same perspectives they’ve been told for the past 60 years, since the beginning of cinema.

For me, the most important aspect I’m working on is putting women in power — getting female directors, female writers, female producers, female prop masters, female set design — every hand that goes into the pot to try to get as many women in the room. That was something that was important in “The Miseducation of Cameron Post.” We had a 95 percent female crew. It was a massive thing that aided the feeling and temperature of the movie and why it was so interesting to people.

W&H: Can you talk a little more about the experience of being in “The Miseducation of Cameron Post”? I know that you had a personal connection to that role.

CGM: I grew up in a family with two gay brothers and so for me, it was never a question to be an activist and someone who didn’t really see a difference in sexuality. That was something I grew up with.

W&H: It sounds like it was the perfect transition to this next phase of your career.

CGM: To be able to take on a role that was just as much activism as art and being able to partner them together was important to me. It was also important to me in this new iteration of my career, as part of what I really want this next path to look like.

I try to keep in mind what people are wanting to see in films and how I can really push a message and make something feel progressive. I don’t want my films to feel completely educational. I want them to feel like a breath of fresh air in a lot of ways.

W&H: Was taking a role in a horror film like “Greta” part of that next path?

CGM: Most definitely. What’s important for me with “Greta” is kind of linear to “Get Out.” It’s a story that is one that we have seen before, in the sense that it’s a kind of a classic thriller or a horror escape movie like “Fatal Attraction,” “Basic Instinct,” and “Single White Female.” It’s exciting to be able to subvert the genre and change the perspective with Isabelle Huppert. It’s different because of her and me in the lead roles.

That new perspective makes it modern, interesting, and innovative. That for me was a cool opportunity compared to “Cameron Post,” which was the quieter version and more introspective version of that, or “Suspiria,” which is the most art-driven version of this, but again told a very female-empowered story. With “Greta,” it’s the broader, more commercial version for more people to take in and obtain, and hopefully, change some perspectives in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re taking your medicine.

W&H: Why do you think your character is so drawn to Greta in the first place?

CGM: What I found most interesting about that is that it’s a story about loss and loneliness. You’re talking about a young woman who lost her mother six to seven months ago, so she has this massive cavity in her heart and the question is how far can we go to fill that cavity. What vulnerable places does loss put you in and how vulnerable did she have to be to let this woman in — to re-route and cause such a massive roadblock in her life in a lot of ways?

W&H: Did you do any research into people who had been stalked or kidnapped or did you let the story take over your process?

CGM: As Frances [Moretz’s character] learned about what was about to happen to her, I wanted to be as fresh as possible and build that relationship with Isabelle. I wanted to be able to build that beautiful friendship, so I didn’t want to throw myself down the river before knowing what was happening.

W&H: Isabelle Huppert’s role in this film as Greta seemed like a departure for her, too.

CGM: Yes, she’s played fearsome roles in the past but to be able to see her really take on this role of someone who is a monster was exciting to me as a fan of her work. I think some of her other characters have almost gone down this road but haven’t taken real advantage of her being able to to do that.

W&H: What were the final scenes in “Greta” [the final confrontation between Huppert and Moretz’s characters] like to shoot?

CGM: They were difficult. Not to give too much away, but I am very claustrophobic and it was hard to be confined like that. It was intense, but I was lucky to have a beautiful scene partner with me. Isabelle is so gentle and sensitive and really walked me through what was happening in a really stunning away. I had some very deep fears, which was really happening. It wasn’t quite acting.