What keeps If I Stay's teen star Chloe Grace Moretz from going off the rails?
It's almost impossible to believe that Chloe Grace Moretz is only 17.
It's not just that she's already been a major star since appearing in Kick-Ass back in 2010. It's that she's always seemed mature beyond her years.
Her role as Hit-Girl required her to function with the poise of an adult and the colourful vocabulary of a particularly drunk sailor.
In her follow-up role for Let Me In, she played a savage and savvy vampire trapped in a young girl's body.
Keep in mind that she pulled off these parts when she was barely a teen, and since then she's gone on to appear in such non-kiddie fare as Texas Killing Fields, Hick, Carrie and Dark Shadows.
She may be a child star, but she's a far cry from a Disney Princess.
As she told The Guardian in an interview last year, "When you do a lot of kid movies, that can be a problem.
"You were a little sister type, and then all of a sudden you're a prostitute, and people don't like it.
"The first time anyone really saw me was in Kick-Ass, killing people. So I don't think I'll have that kind of trouble."
In her new film If I Stay, she continues to play it maturely as a girl who goes into a coma, and then must decide whether to live or die while wandering the spirit world.
Let's take a look at how Moretz has avoided the pitfalls of child stardom.
Moretz didn't have the easiest childhood.
Her plastic surgeon father left the family when she was a child. That's bad enough for any young girl. But then her mother was diagnosed with cancer when Moretz was ten.
"There's been a lot of bad stuff that has happened and we've risen out of the ashes," she said in an interview with UK InStyle magazine.
"I'm a better person because of it. I've learnt what not to do with my life...
"I realised that everything is not peaches and cream."
Estranged from her father, Moretz is very close to her mother and four brothers, with her older bro Trevor functioning as both acting coach and minder.
Just recently, she arrived at the New York premier of If I Stay hand-in-hand with her protective big bro.
Among the challenges of being an actor, choosing and landing great roles is undoubtedly one of the most daunting.
Despite her tender age, it's an area in which Moretz has excelled.
Arguably one of the greatest roles a young actress could ever hope to get is Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass.
Moretz milked it for all it was worth, easily stealing the original film and last year's sequel from the lead.
She was unforgettable as the vampire in the uncompromising Let Me In.
She was a stand-out in Martin Scorsese's period epic Hugo.
CARRIE ON
She even hit a high with the remake of Carrie, effortlessly stepping into the blood-soaked shoes of Sissy Spacek.
Moretz has done it again with If I Stay, landing a plum role in this adaptation of the critically-acclaimed, bestselling novel by Gayle Forman.
It's the story of a girl who goes into a coma after a car crash that also kills her family. Wandering the mortal plane in spirit form, she must decide whether to return to her body or to leave this crummy world behind.
Moretz told Entertainment Weekly: "I want people to walk in and feel like they actually felt something, and learned something, and realised something different about life...
"You want to watch something that actually means something and makes you feel and makes you want to be involved.
"That's what I wanted to make and that's what I strive to make."
The trend will no doubt continue with her upcoming films The Equalizer and Dark Places.
FINE STYLE
Style might seem like a frivolous thing, but it's often a great indicator of just where someone is headspace-wise.
Moretz doesn't dress or act like someone who has issues, or has something to prove, or in the case of some other actresses - mental deficiencies.
She just comes across as smart, self-assured and classy. If not somewhat thrifty for a movie star.
"My mom doesn't let me shop in expensive places just yet," she told the fashion magazine Company.
"The things I do have were gifts - people have been really sweet, giving me stuff.
"When I lived in London, I used to go to TK Maxx on Kensington High Street and buy the four-seasons late brand stuff in the Gold Label section.
"I went to Urban Outfitters the other day and I bought a couple of white T-shirts. I sometimes shop in the men's section and buy extra small because I like their stuff better sometimes."
Moretz has won rave reviews for her cute and rather modest red-carpet fashion choices.
The Hollywood Reporter was delighted with the sequined shirtdress she wore to the premier of If I Stay, and gushed over her emergence as a wholesome teen fashion icon.
"Whether it's hitting up Comic-Con in a Christopher Kane body-con dress or arriving at the Cannes Film Festival in a Chanel Couture feathered frock, Moretz tends to strike the perfect balance with polished yet playful looks on the carpet."
Clearly she's no Lindsay, or Paris, or Amanda, or Kim, or Miley, or... you get the idea. At some point, she may even be famous enough to go just by Chloe. But if she does, it will be for all the right reasons.
"My mom doesn't let me shop in expensive places just yet."
- Chloe Grace Moretz
Child stars triumphant
Chloe Moretz isn't the only child star to keep her life and career together.
Though most of her brethren tend to flame out and fade into obscurity or notoriety, a precious few have beaten the odds and gone on to even greater success.
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT
THAT WAS THEN
Gordon-Levitt started off on situation comedy 3rd Rock From The Sun, playing the girl-haired alien boy Tommy.
THIS IS NOW
The dude is one of the biggest movie stars in the world, appearing in premium productions such as Inception, Lincoln, The Dark Knight Rises and Looper.
He also does classy smaller flicks such as 50/50 and (500) Days Of Summer and Don Jon, the last of which he also directed.
LEONARDO DICAPRIO
THAT WAS THEN
Leo started off on television in the early 90s with shows like Growing Pains, then jumped to movies with What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Romeo + Juliet and, of course, Titanic!
THIS IS NOW
As famous as he was as a kid, he's possibly the most famous guy in the world. After starring in Martin Scorsese's Gangs Of New York, The Aviator and The Departed, he can choose whatever picture he wants. He rarely fails to amaze, as he proved in Django Unchained and The Wolf Of Wall Street.
He also seems to be making a habit of publicly snubbing Justin Bieber. He's a modern-day hero.
CHRISTIAN BALE
THAT WAS THEN
Bale proved to be an uncommonly committed young performer, jumping right into major flicks such as Empire Of The Sun, Newsies and Swing Kids.
THIS IS NOW
Well, he's Batman. What more needs to be said? The only role that really tops Batman is Moses. See Bale part the Red Sea in Ridley Scott's upcoming Exodus: Gods And Kings.
Three times the charm
If you really want to be someone in Hollywood these days, you have to go around with three names.
Two names are for LOSERS!
Here are some of the coolest triple-monikered stars, in order of most cool to not very cool at all.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Chloe Grace Moretz
James Earl Jones
Sarah Jessica Parker
Neil Patrick Harris
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Helena Bonham Carter
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