Stephen King’s classic book Carrie received a more contemporary film adaptation in 2013 with Chloe Grace Moretz playing the titular character. But Moretz admitted that portraying the social outcast took an emotional toll that was a bit hard to shake off.
Chloe Grace Moretz only saw Carrie when she looked in the mirror
Moretz approached the role of Carrie White in a different way than she’s approached her other characters. The actor is no stranger to starring in dark material. One of her first roles was in the horror feature The Amityville Horror. She’d also starred in projects perhaps even heavier in tone such as The Poker House and Let Me In. But when it came to Carrie, Moretz saw the opportunity to delve deeper into the titular character than she had in other dark projects.
“What I really wanted to do for this character was things I’d never done before,” Moretz once said in an interview with Fangoria.
In most films, Moretz is typically able to remove herself from a character quite easily.
“Whereas with this role, I wanted to try something where I really felt this person all day long, and be in that character from start of the day until end of the day, and change my body and my feelings and my hair and everything to the point where, when I looked in the mirror, all I saw was Carrie. It was very interesting,” she said.
Chloe Grace Moretz felt alone and isolated because of playing Carrie White
Carrie White’s story in the 2013 film was faithful to both King’s book and the 1976 adaptation that preceded it. A young girl with an unusual relationship with her mother, who’s also ostracized by her peers in high school, develops supernatural abilities.
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Staying as close as she did to the tormented character had intense psychological affects on Moretz. Especially when she had to film one of the story’s most iconic moments.
“This film [Carrie] messes with your head a lot. Filming that scene at the prom, I could hear this hissing and I was like, ‘Oh God, it’s releasing,’ and this huge torrent of blood pours over me, covering my face,” she once told Look (via Contact Music).
During the scene, Moretz found herself in a similar state of mind as the actual character.
“It was all around me, and then the director cued the kids to laugh at me, and in that moment, I really became Carrie,” she added. “I was so alone. I went back to my trailer at the end of the day, and just sat down and started crying. I’d never felt so alone in my entire life. It was terrifying being in that place.”
Chloe Grace Moretz was able to relate to Carrie White in 1 way
Moretz and Carrie don’t have much in common on the surface. Moretz’s upbringing and relationships were the complete opposite of Carrie’s, with Moretz considering herself genuinely happy the majority of the time. But The Peripheral star related to her character being told she couldn’t be something she wanted to be. As an actor, Moretz has faced similar types of scrutiny in her career.
“In my childhood—which I’m still in—I had been told ‘No.’ I’ve been told, ‘You’re never gonna be that actress who’s at the Oscars. You’re never gonna be the one; you’re never gonna be Meryl Streep.’ That’s what I was told a thousand times,” Moretz said. “And then I grew up and I’ve chosen characters where I’ve proven myself, and I’ve looked at those same people and said, ‘Well, look. You told me I’d never be that actor, and now I’m succeeding at it.’ I’m actually reaching farther and beyond anything I’ve done before.”
