Chloe Moretz as Carrie
Reel Movie Nation’s long known that Chloe Moretz will play the angsty lead in Carrie (see Carrie Remake: Chloe Moretz For Angsty, Telekinetic Teen) and we’re happy to bring you several updates. First, welcome aboard a supporting cast consisting of Julianne Moore, Portia Doubleday and Judy Greer. Director Kimberly Pierce will bring these talented ladies together in what’s sure to be an intense psychological thriller.
The Plot
Carrie White (Moretz) is an outcast. She has an overbearing religious mother (Julianne Moore) and no friends. She is awkward in every way possible and her classmates let her know it. One particularly cruel student is Chris Hargensen (Portia Doubleday). Chris, along with her boyfriend, goes out of her way to make Carrie’s life unbearable. Carrie has a few unexpected allies such as Ms. Collins, the gym teacher played by Judy Greer. However, these small points of friendship in her life are no competition for the psychological torture she puts up with elsewhere.
Eventually, all of this pain and angst and hatred Carrie feels begin to manifest in physical ways and it’s payback time. I won’t go into details, but it’s not pretty.
The Cast
Chloe Moretz is more than prepared for this role. She’s acted in a variety of genres — everything from Kick-Ass (2010) to Hugo (2011). Her most recent roll was as daughter Carolyn in the supernatural comedy/drama Dark Shadows (2012). She’s dabbled in horror before. One of her earliest roles was in 2005′s Amityville Horror and she’s also proven herself as vampire Abby in Let Me In (2010). It’ll be hard to turn naturally beautiful Moretz into an unsightly highschooler, but I’m sure she’ll perform admirably.
Juliane Moore will play Margaret White, Carrie’s uber-religious mother. She’s been an actor for almost three decades and is known for such roles as Dr. Anne Eastman in The Fugitive (1993), Lila Crane in Psycho (1998) and Clarice Starling in Hannibal (2001). Recently she was in 2011′s Crazy, Stupid, Love which was nominated by the Detroit Film Critics Society for Best Ensemble.
Portia Doubleday will play mean-girl Chris. She’s only got a handful of films under her belt, but she seems pretty promising. Her most recognized role is as Sheeni Saunders, the girl interest in 2009′s Youth in Revolt. She studied psychology (as well as theater) in college, which might come in handy for Carrie.
Judy Greer will play gym teacher and lone positive role model Ms. Collins. She mostly leans towards roles in romantic comedies (What Women Want, The Wedding Planner, 27 Dresses), so Carrie will be a little out-of-the-ordinary for her. She’s also had numerous TV roles in both comedic and dramatic roles. She’s made appearances on CSI: Miami, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, House, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and many others. Mostly she specializes in supporting roles rather than taking the main stage, so playing Ms. Collins, who’s sort of a behind-the-scenes character, is appropriate.
Book Vs. Movie
For those who don’t know, Carrie was Stephen King’s first published novel. He says the hardest part was writing about various “girl problems” — menstruation, female gossip, etc. The title character is based on two separate social outcasts King knew in highschool. One was a misunderstood girl with epilepsy (who later died of a seizure) and the other was the sort of unfortunate adolescent we’ve all either known or been: Always wore the same outfit, had a lousy home life, just couldn’t fit in. Later in life, this girl commited suicide. King says he always wanted to stand up for these girls and tell his classmates to stop teasing them, but he never quite worked up the courage to do so. Carrie was written half as a tribute to these girls and half as a warning.
The movie, like the book, will juggle between Carrie’s internal thoughts and what’s happening in the external world (both perspectives are equally terrifying). Unlike the book where it’s clear that everything going on is real, director Pierce will allow some ambiguity. Think Black Swan and how a good portion was part hallucination, part fractured consciousness. It will take some finesse from everyone involved to pull that off well, but if done right it’d give Carrie an edge over typical one-sided horror films. Good luck to all involved!
Carrie is scheduled to be released next March.
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