Teen actress Chloe Grace Moretz, who made a name for herself in "Kick-Ass," takes on her biggest acting role to date as the lead in the 1976 horror classic and critically-acclaimed "Carrie."
Moretz, 16, admitted to ABC News' Juju Chang that she was intimidated by the role because it was Stephen King's first literary success and the movie earned Sissy Spacek her first Academy Award nomination.
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"I was intimidaated on taking on a Stephen King novel," Moretz told Chang on "Nightline" Thursday. "That's what scared me ... trying to take something that was one of his most iconic pieces of work that he's ever written and try and breathe life, even halfway as good, as the words that he has put into a book."
Moretz said she tried to put out of her mind that her portrayal of Carrie White will be compared to Spacek's performance.
"Yes, it's terrifying, but as an actor I can't think of that because if I did it's going to kill me and I'll never achieve what I want to achieve as an actor," Moretz said.
To get into the head of her character, Moretz said she tried to stay in character as much as possible.
"It was the first movie I ever did in which I wanted to try method (acting)," she said to Chang. "You know, trying to really breathe and live in her because she is such a dark character you can't just cut and be like hee-hawing around."
Spacek and Piper Laurie, who played Carrie White's mother, were nominated for best actress and best supporting actress, respectively. Spacek went on to receive five other Oscar nominations after "Carrie" and won in 1981 as the lead actress of "Coal Miner's Daughter."
Moretz, who played Hit-Girl in two "Kick-Ass" movies, has also starred in the Oscar-nominated "Hugo" and Johnny Depp's "Dark Shadows." The popular actress is slated to appear in four films next year, "Laggies," "The Equalizer," "Sils Maria" and "Dark Places," which she is currently filming.
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