When we think of Chloe Grace Moretz, we think of a sassy kid with a biting wit, and often a gift for violence as seen in Kick-Ass, Let Me In and Dark Shadows. But Moretz is offering a different side, a more tender side, in the trailer for her new drama If I Stay.
Based on the lauded novel by Gayle Forman, If I Stay has Moretz playing 17-year-old Mia, who is faced with a major decision. After a brutal car crash kills her parents, Mia is in a coma, but fully aware of the friends and remaining family that come to visit her hospital bed. But is their love enough to convince her to stay in a world filled with such grief?
Sharing the screen with Moretz for this film are Mireille Enos, Liana Liberato, Jakob Davies, Jamie Blackley, Joshua Leonard and Aisha Hinds. R.J. Cutler, who has helmed episodes of teen-centric TV shows like American High and Freshman Diaries, makes his feature directorial debut with If I Stay. Its adapted screenplay was penned by Shauna Cross, who wrote the novel Derby Girl and its wonderful (though undervalued) movie adaptation Whip It.
We're seeing a string of movies about teen girls confronting their own mortality. 2011 brought us Gus Van Sant's Restless, which starred Mia Wasikowska.
The Dakota Fanning fronted-romance Now is Good hit theaters in the U.K. in 2012.
The upcoming The Fault In Our Stars stars Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort:
Each one offers its ingénue a chance to dig into some serious drama. For Moretz, it could mean her branching out from the BAMF roles that have become her niche. While we'll always love her as Hit-Girl, for her own career longevity, it's important that she begin to impress us with some range. With that tricky leap from child star to grown ingénue coming on fast, films like this and the upcoming Dark Places and The Equalizer could prove crucial.
If I Stay is set to open in the US on August 22nd.
