Chloe Moretz sure knows how to make a first impression.
The 14-year-old was handpicked by Martin Scorsese to appear in Hugo after she played an innocent prank on him during her audition.
"It was hilarious. I was speaking in a British accent all the way through the audition," she tells New York Magazine's Vulture. "He was like, 'Wait! You're American? No way, kid — the whole time I thought you were a Brit.' I was like, 'Thank you, Marty.'"
Moretz says she worked with her brother Trevor to perfect her English accent.
"He was my dialect coach, and we came up with a character," she explains. "One of the American-to-British accents that I studied was Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love. She did such a phenomenal accent in that movie. That was my basis."
Though Moretz is poised to become a big star — she appears opposite Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Michelle Pfeiffer in Tim Burton's Dark Shadows — the Southern star credits her family for helping her stay grounded.
"My mom doesn't allow me — in my everyday look, at least — to wear really high fashion because she finds it inappropriate for young girls to be buying Chanel and Versace and everything," she says. "But when I get to dress up, I love going all out: I love Versace, Chanel, Givenchy, Dolce & Gabbana, Dior. Whenever I have a press tour, I always try to fit in as many amazing clothes as I can because I know the minute I got home I have to change into my normal little clothes."
Hugo arrives in theaters November 23.
