Margaret White, the mental mother of the telekinetic teen at the center of the horror classic Carrie, is undoubtedly one of the most disturbing characters ever set to screen. She associated sex and puberty with shame and sin, and so made her bullied daughter's home not a sanctuary, but another place of torment. Spitting out lines like, "They're all gonna' laugh at you," and "I can see your dirty pillows," Piper Laurie created a menacing movie mom for the ages. Now four-time Oscar nominee Julianne Moore will attempt to top Laurie's Oscar-nominated performance, as Deadline reports she has signed on to play Margaret White in the upcoming Carrie remake.
The production helmed by Boys Don't Cry director Kimberly Peirce had previously lined up Chloe Grace Moretz to front the remake. While many horror remakes of late have been little more than pale imitations of their source material, pairing Moretz—who has dazzled critics and genre fans alike with her work in Kick-Ass and Let Me In—with Moore immediately sets this revamp apart from the pack. Of course it's still a risky move to redo something that so many deem a classic, but I must admit curiosity as to what Pierce will do with the iconic tale of a sweet girl whose staggering abuse at the hands of her classmates and mother turns her into a psychopathic psychokinetic killer.
Also joining the cast is Gabriella Wilde who will play Sue Snell, the popular girl who takes pity on Carrie, and was played by Amy Irving in the original film. Casting Moore is an almost obvious move, as she's a fearless, capable actress who can bring depth to even the most heinous characters. However, Wilde's casting is a bit more befuddling. Her biggest role to date was as D'Artagnan's love interest Paul W.S. Anderson's Three Musketeers, which gave her little to do other than stern or swooning at the arrogant swashbuckler. While Wilde certainly has the look of a popular girl, it remains to be seen if she can hold her own against such solid performers as Moore and Moretz. Also troubling, next to Moretz, Wilde doesn't really look like a teenager. Nonetheless, Peirce is a director known to make bold choices. Whether or not these will pay off, we'll find out when Carrie opens on March 15, 2013.
