Chloë Grace Moretz's Mom Found It "Difficult" to Watch Her Daughter Get Abused in Carrie

"There are moments that you're like, 'Ooh, I can't watch it,' but it's just so beautifully done," Teri tells Nightline

By Zach Johnson Oct 18, 2013 11:56 AMTags
CarrieMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Screen Gems

Chloë Grace Moretz's Carrie remake hits theaters on Friday, Oct. 18, and the revenge fantasy flick promises to be just as terrifying as the book it's based on.

"I was intimidated on taking on a Stephen King novel," the actress tells ABC's Nightline. "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."

The 16-year-old movie star stayed in character in between to takes, ostracizing herself from the cast and crew. "It was the first movie I ever did in which I wanted to try method [acting]," Moretz recalled. "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."

Moretz's character isn't just bullied by her classmates, however. The teen is "abused by too much love" at the hands of her mother, Margaret White, played by Julianne Moore.

Fortunately, the actress' own mother is nothing like Moore's character. "I'm a momma bear, and there are times that you have to just let go, and it's not easy," said Terri Moretz. She added that it was "difficult" to watch her daughter suffer abuse onscreen.

"There are moments that you're like, 'Ooh, I can't watch it,' but it's just so beautifully done," she explained. "I saw the original one [the 1976 classic starring Sissy Spacek and Piper Lauer], and this one is really beautiful, but it's psychologically disturbing."