Actresses Chloe Moretz (“Kick-Ass”) and Haley Bennett (“Marley & Me”, Terrence Malick’s forthcoming “Lawless”) are in the lead to take the title role in “Boys Don’t Cry” director Kimberly Peirce’s remake of “Carrie”. The two young thesps have beaten out a slew of actresses including Lily Collins (“Mirror Mirror”), Dakota Fanning (“Twilight”), Bella Heathcote (“In Time”, Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows”) and Emily Browning (“Sucker Punch”) to get to this point (though it should be noted that “The Descendants” star Shailene Woodley reportedly turned down an offer to be covered in pig’s blood earlier this week).
So which actress is right for the part? One interesting factor to note is the wide gap in the ages of the two thesps: while the 15-year-old Moretz is much closer to the character’s actual age, at 24 Bennett is nearly a decade older.
What’s interesting too is that both actresses have quite a different look than Sissy Spacek, who originated the role in Brian De Palma’s 1976 version. Which also brings up another relevant point regarding the age issue: Spacek was nearly 27 years old when the original movie came out, and she quite convincingly played a high school student. In short, Bennett’s age probably won’t play a huge role in Peirce and co.’s decision.
In addition to the title role, story-breaker Vulture is also reporting that Peirce is interested in both Jodie Foster and Julianne Moore for the role of Carrie’s religion-crazed mother, which was originated by Piper Laurie. Both Laurie and Spacek went on to be nominated for Academy Awards for their performances, for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress, respectively.
“Carrie” has been remade once before – in a 2002 made-for-TV version starring Angela Bettis as the title character – though the reported idea with this version is to hew more faithfully to Stephen King’s novel (which, if you’ve read the epistolary-style book, would mean a lot more pyrotechnics and overall destruction).
Who do you think would be a good choice for Carrie White? Moretz? Bennett? Someone else? Sound off in the comments!